2025年学生招募情况 博士生 State of Student Recruitment 2025 PhD students

2025

StateofStudentRecruitment

PhDstudents

PhDrecruitmenttrendsin2025,plus

preferencesandbarrierstostudyingabroad

www.keg.com

TheStateofStudentRecruitmentin2025

Intoday'scompetitiverecruitmentlandscape,understandingwhatdrivesstudentdecisionsisn'tjusthelpful—it'simperative.That'swhyI'mexcitedtoshareKeystoneEducationGroup'smostextensivestudentanalysisyet,drawingonresponsesfrom42,000prospectivestudentsacross150countries,including3,338PhDstudents.

Thisisn'tjustanotherdataset-it'saroadmapforuniversitiesinanevolvingeducationmarket.

Datafrom:

3,338

students

interestedin

PhDstudy

Our2025StateofStudentRecruitmentreportrevealswhatdrivesstudentdecisions,andhowtheseinsightscaninformyourmarketingstrategiesandmake2025/26yourmostsuccessfulrecruitmentyearyet.

BySabaDavenport

ChiefMarketingOfficer

KeystoneEducationGroup

01Topstudydestinations

TopinternationalstudydestinationsforPhDstudentsin2025

UnitedKingdomUnitedStates Germany Australia CanadaNetherlandsItaly

IrelandSwitzerlandFrance

33%

14%

8%

8%

5%3%

2%2%2%2%

0%5%10%15%20%25%30%35%

WhenwelookatourStateofStudentRecruitmentdataacrossallstudy-levels(including

Bachelor,sandMaster,s)itshowsgrowingdiversificationininternationaldestinations.WhiletheUK,US,Australia,andCanadaremainpopular,theyarelosinggroundtoEuropeanandAsian

countries.

However,atPhDlevel,the,bigfour,destinationsaremorepopular.

PhDstudentspreferfull-time,oncampusstudy

83%

ofPhDstudentswanttostudyfull-time

comparedto

69%

ofallstudents

HowPhDstudentsprefertostudy

202576%10%14%

202474%12%14%

Campus/InpersonOnlineHybrid/Mixed

02Topsubjectsin2025

LifeSciencestopsinternationalPhDinterest

STEMsubjectsmorepopularatPhDlevel

ComparedtoBachelorand

Master’slevels,PhDstudentsaremoreinterestedinSTEMsubjects.

Topsubjectchoices20242025

LifeSciences

19%

19%

Clinical&Health

13%

14%

Business&Economics

12%

13%

Engineering

12%

12%

SocialSciences

9%

9%

PhysicalSciences

8%

8%

Arts&Humanities

8%

7%

Education

6%

7%

ComputerScience

6%

6%

Psychology

4%

4%

Business&Economicsisthetopsubjectacrossallstudylevels.Itwastop,with20%ofMaster’sstudentsand19%atBachelor’sin2025.

OurdataalsoshowsyoungeraudiencesaremoreinterestedinArts&Humanities,withinterestdecliningtheolderthestudentis.

Subjectinterestbasedonage:

ComputerScienceBusiness&EconomicsClinical&HealthArts&Humanities

20%

17%14%14%

Under18

20%20%

16%

9%

10%

7%

10%14%14%8%16%12%

35-44yearolds

18-24yearolds25-34yearolds

03Studentmotivations

Studentmotivations

PhDstudentsaremotivatedtogointohighereducationtoprogressintheircareerandtodeveloptheirskillset.

TheimportanceofsubjectinterestspikesatPhDlevel,asexpectedgiventheinvestmentstudentswillbemakingintheirchosenfield.Itwasamotivatingfactorfor40%ofPhDstudents,comparedto25%atBachelorlevel.

‘Havinganadventure’wasamorepopularreasonatMaster’s(29%)andBachelor’s(34%),comparedtoonly22%ofPhDstudents.

TopreasonsPhDstudentswanttostudy

1Toprogressinmycurrentcareer

2Todevelopmyskills

3I,minterestedinthesubject

4Toqualifyforaspecificcareer

5Tochallengemyself

Topreasonsallstudentswanttostudy

1Todevelopmyskills

2Toqualifyforaspecificcareer

3Toqualifyforfurtherstudy

4Toprogressinmycurrentcareer

5Tohaveanadventure

WhatarethemostimportantfactorsinaPhDprogram?

56%

Affordablefees

44%

Workplacementsorinternships

38%

Academicnetworkingopportunities

Academicnetworkingopportunitiesbecome

morepopularaswegothroughthestudyranks-itisthemostimportantfactorfor28%of

Bachelor’sstudents,risingto35%forMaster’s,andpeakingat38%forPhDstudents.

03Studentmotivations

PhDstudentsconsidertheprogrambeforetheschool

Weasked:Whichdoyouconsiderfirst?

Program

School

Country

53%

29%

18%

Theprogramwasthetoppriorityforstudentsuntil2023,largelyduetostudentfocusonpractical,individualskills.Itsinfluencedippedslightlyin2024and2025acrossallstudylevels.

However,itremainsmostimportanttoPhDstudents—53%rankedithighestin2025,upfrom48%in2024—andcomparedto50%ofMastersand40%ofBachelor’sstudents.Ifyou’rerecruitingPhDcandidates,program-focusedmarketingiskey.

Incontrast,Bachelorstudentsareplacingmorevalueontheschoolitself—40%rankeditfirstin2025,upfrom34%in2024.

TopbarrierstostudyingaPhDabroad

WeaskedPhDstudentswhatmotivatesthemtostudyintheirhomecountryinsteadofabroadtogainanindicationintotheirdecisionmaking.Thetopreasonstostudydomesticallyare:

1Don,twanttoleavefamilyandfriends51%

2Studyingabroadistooexpensive42%

3Studyingabroadistoocomplex23%

4Idon,tseethebenefit16%

5Don,tfeeleligible(language)9%

6Iwouldn,tfeelsafestudyingabroad8%

Manystudentshesitatetoleavefamilyandfriends—especiallyDoctoratestudents,butalso37%ofMaster’sandoveraquarterofBachelorsstudents.

AscountriesliketheUK,Canada,andFinlandtightenrulesondependents,suchconcernswillgrow.Institutionscan'tchangepoliciesbutcansupportcandidatesbyclearlysignposting

requirements.

04Studentinfluences

Influences

Thepowerofstudentreviews

Withpeer-to-peercommunicationsontherise,weaskedstudentsiftheytakereviewsintoconsiderationintheirdecision-making,with83%ofPhDstudentssayingtheydid.

83%

36%

takereviewsinto

47%

takereviewsinto

17%

don,ttakereviews

saidtheytakereviewsintoconsideration

consideration‘alittle,.

consideration‘alot,.

intoconsideration.

Reviewsmattermostforolderstudents

Reviewsalsomattermoretheolderthestudentis.43%of25to34yearoldssaidtheytookreviewsintoconsideration‘alot’,comparedto38%ofthoseunder24-years-old.

LinkedInmostinfluentialforPhDstudents

WhileLinkedInmaynotbethetoppriorityinyoursocialmediastrategy,itdoeshaveaninfluenceinstudychoice.The‘mostinfluentialchannels’:

●

In

ofPhDstudents

saidsocialmedia

influencestheir

studychoice

60%

LinkedIn

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

TikTok

PhD

55%

18%

14%

9%

4%

Master’s

32%

24%

17%

18%

9%

Bachelor’s

14%

27%

17%

27%

15%

PhDstudentsprioritizecoursecontentandsubject

opportunities,withreputation&rankingalsomostimportantatthislevel,despiteyear-on-yeardeclineswithBachelor’sandMaster’sstudents.

Topfactorsinfluencingstudyabroadcountry

PhD

Allstudents

Subjects&studyopportunities

63%

55%

Universityfees&livingcosts

56%

46%

Post-studyworkopportunities

43%

41%

Reputation&universityrankings

41%

36%

Culture&leisureopportunities

27%

30%

05Communications

Communications

Topstudentcommunicationchannels

74%

10%

Wanttobe

contactedviavideoconferencing.

67%

increaseinpopularity

ofPhDstudentswanttobecontactedbyemail

6%

Instantmessaging

3%

Byphone

4%

Inperson

2%

Livechaton

universitywebsite

Emailisstillthemostpopularchannelbyalongshot,howeverithasdecreasedinpopularityslightlysince2024.

PhDcandidatesfavorvideoconferencingmorethanotherstudylevels-itisthesecondmostpopularcommunicationschannelforPhD,andthirdforbothMastersand

Bachelors(instantmessagingcomesinsecond).

06Applicationstage

Applicationstage

Aroundtwothirdsofallstudentswillapplytothreeormoreuniversities,withinternationalstudentstendingtocastthenetwider.

Thereispotentiallyatrendofstudentsturningbacktowardsamoretargetedapproachtoapplications,withthenumberofstudentssubmittingonly1applicationincreasingby31%from2024to2025.

However,PhDstudentsarethemostlik