2025年学生招募情况 本科生 State of Student Recruitment 2025 Bachelors students

2025

StateofStudentRecruitment

Bachelor’sstudents

Undergraduaterecruitmenttrendsin2025

www.keg.com

TheStateofStudentRecruitmentin2025

Intoday'scompetitiverecruitmentlandscape,understandingwhatdrivesstudentdecisionsisn'tjusthelpful—it'simperative.That'swhyI'mexcitedtoshareKeystoneEducationGroup'smostextensivestudentanalysisyet,drawingonresponsesfrom42,000prospectivestudentsacross150countries,including9,500Bachelor’sstudents.

Datafrom:

9,459

students

interestedin

Bachelor’sstudy

Thisisn'tjustanotherdataset-it'saroadmapforuniversitiesinanevolvingeducationmarket.

Our2025StateofStudentRecruitmentreportrevealswhatdrivesstudentdecisions,andhowtheseinsightscaninformyourmarketingstrategiesandmake2025/26yourmostsuccessfulrecruitmentyearyet.

BySabaDavenport

ChiefMarketingOfficer

KeystoneEducationGroup

01Topstudydestinations

TopinternationalstudydestinationsforBachelor’sstudentsin2025

UnitedStatesUnitedKingdom CanadaGermany

Italy AustraliaNetherlands SpainSouthKoreaFrance

13%

13%

7%

6%

6%

4%

4%3%

3%

2%

0%2%4%6%8%10%12%14%

OurStateofStudentRecruitmentdatashowsincreasingdiversificationininternationalstudydestinationsacrossalllevels.WhiletheUK,US,Australia,andCanadaremaintopchoices,they,relosinggroundtoEuropeanandAsiancountries.

TheUSstillleadsforBachelor,sin2025,butitssharecontinuestodeclinewithgrowingglobalinterestelsewhere.

ItalyandSpainsawslightgainsthisyear.Japan,afterrisingin2024,droppedoutofthetop10,replacedbyarisingSouthKorea.

Bachelor’sstudentsmorelikelytostudypart-time

68%

ofBachelor,sstudentswantto

studyfull-time

comparedto

83%

ofPhDstudents

HowBachelor’sstudentsprefertostudy

202574%17%9%

202476%14%10%

Campus/InpersonOnlineHybrid/Mixed

02Topsubjectsin2025

Business&EconomicstopsBachelor’s

interest

Business&Economics

18%

19%

Arts&Humanities

14%

15%

Clinical&Health

13%

14%

Engineering

13%

13%

ComputerScience

12%

11%

Education

6%

6%

Law

5%

5%

LifeSciences

5%

5%

SocialSciences

5%

5%

Psychology

5%

5%

AppealofComputerScienceatBachelor’slevel

Whenwesplitsubjectinterestbystudylevelandage,weare

seeingthatBachelor’s

respondentsaremoreinterestedinComputerScience,whichis

likelyduetoagrowthininterestintechnicalskillsatthislevel.

Topsubjectchoices20242025

Weoftenthinkof'reskilling'forolderlearners,butshiftstowards'keyskilling'forundergraduatescouldbejustasimportantin2025.

Arts&Humanitiesisatitsmostpopularwithyoungerstudents,sowhileAIandtechnicalprogramsarehugelypopular,it’simportanttorememberit’snotonlytechnicalskillsthatmatter.

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

Bachelor’sstudentsaremotivatedtogointohighereducationtogainajobintheirchosencareerfieldandtodeveloptheirskillset.

‘Havinganadventure’ismuchmoreofamotivatingfactorforBachelor’sstudents,comparedtootherstudylevels-34%forundergraduate,comparedto29%atMaster’sand22%forPhDstudents.

TopreasonsBachelor’sstudentswanttostudy

1Todevelopmyskills

2Toqualifyforaspecificcareer

3Tohaveanadventure

4Toqualifyforfurtherstudy

5Tochallengemyself

Topreasonsallstudentswanttostudy

1Todevelopmyskills

2Toqualifyforaspecificcareer

3Toqualifyforfurtherstudy

4Toprogressinmycurrentcareer

5Tohaveanadventure

WhatarethemostimportantfactorsinaBachelor’sprogram?

62%

Affordablefees

49%

Workplacementsorinternships

32%

Availabilityof

accommodation

‘Availabilityofaccommodation’isatop

motivatingfactorforBachelor’sstudents,comparedtofourthforMaster’sandPhD.

The‘timetableandstudyhours’isalsomoreimportantatBachelor’slevel,while

‘academicnetworkingopportunities’matterlesswhencomparedtootherstudylevels.

03Studentmotivations

Bachelor’sstudentsconsidertheprogrambeforetheschool

Weasked:Whichdoyouconsiderfirst?

Program

School

Country

40%

40%

20%

Theprogramwasthetoppriorityforstudentsuntil2023,largelyduetostudentfocusonpractical,individualskills.Itsinfluencedippedslightlyin2024and2025acrossallstudylevels.

Incontrast,Bachelor’sstudentsareplacingmorevalueontheschoolcomparedtoother

studylevels—40%rankeditfirstin2025comparedto29%atMaster’sand29%atPhD.Ithasalsogrowninimportancefrom34%in2024.

TopbarrierstostudyingaBachelor’sabroad

WeaskedBachelor’sstudentswhatmotivatesthemtostudyintheirhomecountryinsteadofabroadtogaininsightintotheirdecisionmaking.Thetopreasonstostudydomesticallyare:

4Iwouldn’tfeelsafestudyingabroad16%

5Don’tfeeleligible(language)16%

6Idon’tseethebenefit9%

1Studyingabroadistooexpensive60%

2Don’twanttoleavefamilyandfriends26%

3Studyingabroadistoocomplex19%

EligibilityaconcernforBachelor’s

MorestudentsatBachelor’slevelbelievetheyaren’teligibleforinternationalstudy(eitheracademicallyorduetolanguagebarriers),considerablymorethanotherstudylevels.

Manystudentshesitatetoleavefamilyandfriends—especiallyDoctoratestudents,butalso37%of

Master’sandoveraquarterofBachelor’sstudents.

comparedto

19%

34%

atMaster,s

comparedto

15%

ofBachelor

studentsdon,t

atPhD

believetheyare

eligible

04Studentinfluences

Influences

Thepowerofstudentreviews

Withpeer-to-peercommunicationsontherise,weaskedstudentsiftheytakereviewsintoconsiderationintheirdecision-making,with81%ofBachelor,sstudentssayingtheydid.

81%

40%

takereviewsinto

41%

takereviewsinto

18%

don,ttakereviews

saidtheytakereviewsintoconsideration

consideration‘alittle,.

consideration‘alot,.

intoconsideration.

Reviewsmattermostforolderstudents

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

YouTubemostinfluentialforBachelor’s

students

59%

ofPhDstudents

saidsocialmedia

influencestheir

studychoice

YouTube,InstagramandTikTokareattheirmostinfluentialatBachelor’slevel.YouTube’sinfluenceisconsistentacrossallstudylevelssoifyouonlyhaveresourcesforonechannel,

YouTubeisagoodplacetofocusyourefforts.

Bachelor

MasterPhD

YouTube

27%

24%

18%

Instagram

27%

18%

9%

Facebook

17%

17%

14%

TikTok

15%

9%

4%

●

In

LinkedIn

14%

32%

55%

Bachelor,sAllstudents

Reputation&rankingsmeantheleasttoBachelor’sstudents,

particularlycomparedtoPhD(41%).

Culture&leisureopportunitiesmatterslightlymore(27%at

PhD).

Topfactorsinfluencingstudyabroadcountry

Subjects&studyopportunitiesUniversityfees&livingcosts

Post-studyworkopportunitiesReputation&universityrankingsCulture&leisureopportunities

52%

42%

39%

32%

30%

55%

46%

41%

36%

30%

05Communications

Communications

Topstudentcommunicationchannels

20%

Wanttobe

contactedvia

instantmessaging.

51%

8%

Videoconferencing

4%

Byphone

7%

Inperson

4%

Socialmedia

ofBachelor,sstudentswanttobecontactedbyemail

Emailisstillthemostpopularchannelbyalongshot,however,itisatitslowest

popularityforBachelor’sstudents.Instead,theyareshowinganinterestinusinginstantmessagingapps(suchasWhatsApporFacebookmessenger).Thismethodisatitsmostpopularforundergraduate(20%)comparedto13%atMaster’sandonly6%atPhD.

Socialmediabeingusedforcommunicationisalsoatitsmostpopularwiththislevel.Itdoesn’tmakethetop5atMaster’sorPhD.

06Applicationstage

Applicationstage

Aroundtwothirdsofallstudentswillapplytothreeormoreuniversities,withinternationalstudentstendingtocastthenetwider.

Thereispotentiallyatrendofstudentsturningbacktowardsamoretargetedapproachtoapplications,withthenumberofstudentssubmittingonly1applicationincreasingby31%from2024to2025.

Bachelor’sstudentsaret