We were selected by Nazarbayev University, a higher education institution in the capital of Kazakhstan, to enhance their global media profile. One of their goals for enhancing their international media profile was to increase the number of international student applications and admissions. This can be achieved in a number of ways including student diaries, graduate outcomes, faculty profiles, and research outcomes, all demonstrating to potential students what the school can offer them.
The results
Focused on these goals, we secured a number of student diaries and graduate outcome and experiences pieces in various publications targeted at potential students, including Times Higher Education, The Economist, and The Express Tribune in Pakistan.
These included features such as the story of an American who travelled to Kazakhstan and fell in love with the country so decided to study and build a life there, an Executive MBA participant who made a career move from oil & gas to medical devices by the end of his course, and a selection of Pakistani students expressing why they chose to study in Central Asia. And these are just a small selection of the student stories we have helped share.
We also secured faculty and academic profiles and opinion editorials in publications such as Authority Magazine and South China Morning Post, including Q&A interview pieces with top faculty and opinion pieces on current topics.
Features on the school’s research output in places including The Times, The Independent, The Himalayan Times in Nepal, and Guardian Nigeria were also secured to demonstrate to potential students to calibre of research being conducted at the university.
According to data released by the Kazakh Bureau of National Statistics, the number of international students in Kazakhstan in the midst of the pandemic increased from 29,069 in 2020 to 30,000 in 2021.
Of course, due to various pandemic-related travel restrictions imposed at the start of 2020, the number of students travelling abroad had temporarily decreased when compared to pre-pandemic numbers. However, Kazakhstan had welcomed 21,727 internationals students in 2018 which rose to 39,558 by the end of 2019 – the first year we started working with Nazarbayev University – an 82% increase!
