"It's important to meet physically, to answer questions and to have a personal relationship. You can't replace it, says Johanna Forsström, project manager for international student recruitment at MDU.
Students outside the EU and EEA pay tuition fees to study at Swedish higher education institutions and are an important source of income for several Swedish higher education institutions, according to a report from the Swedish Migration Agency.
Targeting
MDU has decided to focus its international student recruitment primarily on students from India and Ghana.
"Although we of course welcome and have applicants from all over the world, we need to be able to justify why we make the investments we do and exclude others. It costs money to market the university, and spread all over the world, it becomes inefficient and unsuccessful," says Johanna Forsström.
Looking at eligibility
MDU decided on India and Ghana after conducting an analysis that took into account three main criteria – the number of students in the country, what the country's undergraduate education provides for eligibility in Sweden and the students' ability to pay the tuition fee and cope with the cost of living in Sweden.
Participated in student fairs
A while ago, Johanna Forsström and representatives of 18 other Swedish higher education institutions participated in a delegation trip to India organised by the Swedish Embassy in New Delhi.
Part of the trip consisted of marketing Swedish universities at student fairs where Indian students, who are interested in studying in Sweden, could meet representatives from Swedish universities and get information about studying in Sweden.
"The fairs are just one part of what we do. We have a lot of focus on digital marketing, because then we can reach more people at a lower cost," says Johanna Forsström.
Watch Johanna Forsström, on location in India, talk about student recruitment and what distinguishes Indian students in the video.