More than a quarter of international students use a mobile device as their main web access

Earlier this spring, Ruffalo Noel Levitz and CollegeWeekLive conducted a survey of nearly 2,500 prospective international students from 164 countries around the world. This 2014 study polled international students pursuing undergraduate or graduate study in the United States.

Two items asked international students about their use of mobile devices for web browsing. In one response, 28 percent of participants said they used their mobile devices or cell phones most often to browse the web:

The 28 percent figure for using mobile devices as the primary web platform was up from 17 percent in the 2013 E-Expectations international study, although it was less than the 43 percent of college-bound American students who said they used mobile devices as their primary means for web browsing (see the 2013 E-Expectations domestic study).

More importantly for campuses recruiting international students, six out of every ten international respondents said they had looked at a university website using a mobile device.

This response was closer to that of American students in the 2013 E-Expectations domestic study, where 68 percent of American students said they had viewed an institution’s website on a mobile device.

The 2014 E-Expectations international report will be released later in May and will cover many issues about international recruitment, including students’ main concerns about studying abroad, preferences for web content and electronic communications, and parental involvement in the final decision. To be notified when it is released, be sure to subscribe to updates from Noel-Levitz. You can also e-mail us with any questions you have about international recruitment strategies.