Career development opportunities is the key factor in determining where international students pursue global education, according to new research conducted by international education specialist IDP Education.

The Emerging Futures 7 – Voice of the International Student research, which collected responses from more than 6,000 students from over 100 countries, shows a growing number of students are linking graduate employment prospects with their definition of high quality of education.

According to the research, students’ understanding of whether an institution provides ‘high-quality education’ is now largely based on its ‘graduate employment rate’. This outranked ‘institution ranking’, ‘facilities available to students’ and ‘quality of academic staff’, showing that students are seeking tangible outcomes from their studies.

The research also identified that ‘Job outcomes from the institution’ was the top non-academic factor when choosing an institution for 58 percent of international students.

Simon Emmett, Chief Partner Officer at IDP Education, stated that these findings underscore the mutually beneficial relationships between international students and host countries.

“We know that international students choose their study destination based on factors that help them become job ready, with access to post-study employment being the key influence,” said Emmett.

“Simultaneously, we observe that international students are increasingly able to address essential skill shortages in the destination workforces. The research serves as a timely reminder for governments and policymakers to embrace international students, who go on to fill vital skill gaps and foster long-lasting diplomatic ties between their home and host countries,” he said.

While the research showed that there were positive sentiments among students, it also revealed they are struggling with study-related costs and increasing cost of living.

“Financial considerations, such as the cost of visa, and savings requirements are weighing on students’ minds. One in two students told us they would consider switching to another destination country if it had lower savings requirements,” added Emmett.

“Additionally, two thirds of students cite tuition fees, living costs and extra expenses as their biggest worry.”

Despite the varying external pressures impacting each study destination, international student preferences for first-choice destination remained steady. Australia still holds the top spot, followed by the US, UK and Canada respectively. Australia has seen a five percentage point increase since March 2024, while Canada has continued to see a drop in the number of students choosing it as their first-choice destination, down six percentage points since March 2024.