U.S. universities are competing with each other and with universities particularly in U.K., Australia and Canada for talented high school graduates from Asian countries. These students in many cases pay full tuition and enrich the learning environment by bringing with them different cultural perspectives.

A desire for more diversity is largely why St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia was attracted to Singapore in Southeast Asia to attempt to recruit the best and brightest from this island city-state. But as Saint Joseph’s Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management, Sundar Kumarasamy recalls, it’s tough to setup shop 12 times zones away in a place your university is unknown and no student has ever been recruited.

Undeterred, Kumarasamy immediately accepted U.S. Commercial Service Specialist Weng Hee Ho’s offer to help in March 2002 under a Platinum Key Service package. Almost instantly St. Joseph’s became visible and recruited its first MBA student from an information session held at the U.S. Embassy two months later. “It would have taken us ages to establish a face in this market,” said Kumarasamy, “but in very short order we were in front of qualified students and their parents.”

Soon after this first MBA student enrolled in fall 2002, Commercial Specialist Ho, assisted by his colleague Fazielah Ali, both based at the U.S. embassy, went on to organize and execute a marketing campaign under the banner “Discover SJU.” Subsequently, four students signed up for a familiarization tour to the campus. Ho accompanied the students on this trip, which also featured a conference on international management presented by SJU faculty and visits to Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Were the Singaporean students sold on SJU? Director for graduate and undergraduate admissions Susan Kassab was very pleased that two of the four students selected SJU to begin in fall 2003. One of the student’s – and her parents – selected St. Joseph’s over the prestigious brand name of Cambridge University in U.K.

Opening Doors for U.S. Higher Education

St. Joseph’s success was made possible by the Platinum Key Service (PKS), which is available in markets throughout the world and consists of long-term customized help entering a new market or expanding in existing markets. No surprise, St. Joseph’s University has recently signed up for a regional PKS service to use Singapore as a springboard to tap other markets in Asia. Asia offers a big market for U.S. universities recruiting undergraduate and graduate students, Ho of the Commercial Service said. “U.S. higher education enjoys a big competitive advantage, and there is an insatiable demand here.” Said Kassab: “We’re tremendously impressed with what the U.S. Commercial Service has done and continues to do for our overseas student recruitment.”