As the international education sector continues to evolve, factors like cost of living, updated immigration regulations, and shifting geopolitical relations affect future students’ trajectories. And, since 2022, ApplyBoard’s Pulse Surveys have been a useful tool to help us understand the scope of these changes. 

Earlier this fall, we checked in with our advisor network to better understand where their students were most interested in studying, how current events were shaping their perspectives, and how student motivations were evolving. Over 900 advisors from 52 nationalities participated in the Fall 2026 ApplyBoard Recruitment Partner Pulse Survey, answering 11 questions about the trends they’ve observed.¹ Below, we’ve presented the most recent survey data, along with data from 2023 through Q1 of 2026.

Over Half of Advisors Reported Working with More Students

In every Pulse Survey, we ask if advisors think they’re working with more students than they did over the previous quarter. After significant policy change across the education sector in early 2024, many advisors noted they were working with fewer students. Encouragingly, however, this decline started to reverse in late 2024, and more advisors have reported that they’ve worked with larger numbers of students in both 2025 and 2026.

In the Spring 2026 RP Pulse Survey, more than 50% of surveyed advisors shared that they were working with more students quarter-over-quarter for the first time since 2023. This pattern persisted into Fall 2026:

Compared to last year’s survey results, the proportion of advisors working with moderately more students quarter-over-quarter rose by 10 percentage points—a considerable jump. Conversely, the proportion of advisors working with significantly fewer students dropped by 10% compared to the same time in 2025.

Even when we compare the most recent results to Spring 2026, the percentage of advisors who worked with significantly more students in Q3 2026 rose two percentage points to 24%. This steady improvement suggests that worldwide, student interest levels are continuing to recover.

Australian Grads’ Education ROI Perceived as Highest Among Popular Study Destinations

This fall, 87% of advisors thought that international students in Australia were likely to find good jobs after graduation, and were most likely to have a good return on their educational investment:

This was the highest proportion of support among the selected destinations. Canada was close behind with 84% agreement. Meanwhile, only 70% of respondents agreed that international graduates from institutions in either the UK or Ireland were likely to be successful and find good jobs.

Amid rising rates of youth unemployment worldwide and a competitive job market, prospective students and their advisors are increasingly considering graduate outcomes when determining where to study, or where to encourage their students to go.

Despite this specific strength, Australia remained near the middle of the pack when it came to overall attractiveness as a study destination. We’ll take a closer look at how students and their advisors perceive popular study destinations in the next section.

Canada and the UK Remain the Most Attractive Study Destinations

When we asked international student advisors which destinations among the ones ApplyBoard supported were most attractive, the UK and Canada stayed at the top of the list:

Opinions regarding both of these destinations have remained relatively stable since Spring 2026, edging upward slightly.

And, while a slightly larger proportion of advisors disagreed that Australia was an attractive destination (10% disagreed or strongly disagreed, up two percentage points from the spring), it kept its lead over Germany as the third-most attractive study destination. That said, Germany’s overall attractiveness grew compared to our previous survey, rising by four percentage points among advisors who either agreed or strongly agreed it was an attractive study destination.

The US remained in fifth place, in the same position as in the spring, but down from third place a year ago. However, slightly more advisors strongly agreed it’s an attractive destination: this proportion rose three percentage points to 27%. The US’ overall attractiveness sat at 56%, the same proportion as in the previous survey, but with greater conviction (more “strongly agree” responses).

Advisors’ Perception of Student Safety and Welcome Dips

Across the board, popular study destinations were seen as less welcoming, safe, and open to international students:

The UK was perceived as the most open, safe, and welcoming destination among survey participants once again, with Canada close behind. However, the proportion of advisors who agreed these countries were safe and welcoming dipped by two percentage points for both countries. Germany came in third, with 79% of advisors agreeing.

Australia saw a much larger drop: only 74% of respondents agreed it was a welcoming destination, compared to 84% in the Spring 2026 survey results. This shift in sentiment may be tied to financial hurdles, like Australia’s rising student visa application fee, as well as structural ones like student visa refusal rates, which hit a 10-year high in June.

And, while perception of the US dimmed to a lesser degree (down three percentage points vs Spring 2026), only 48% of respondents currently see the world’s largest study destination as one that’s open, safe, and welcoming for their students. This is a historical low throughout the survey’s duration, and suggests that advisors may be more cautious or strategic when connecting their students with opportunities in the US. In a separate question, one-third of advisors shared that their students were much less interested in the US as a destination due to recent government and policy changes. That’s twenty percentage points higher than the proportion of advisors who said this about Australia, whose reputation was affected the second-most severely.

Affordability and Growth Opportunities Remain Key Factors

Tomorrow’s students are looking for courses that will set them up for rewarding careers—with tuition levels that don’t break the bank. Once more, the cost of studying was chosen by the most advisors as a key factor when students are deciding where to study. 87% selected it as one of their students’ top five drivers:

The next most-cited factor, post-study work opportunities, made 68% of respondents’ lists. This speaks to the continued importance of post-study work programs which leverage international graduates’ skills while giving them global work experience. From the Graduate visa in the UK to Optional Practical Training in the US or the Third Level Graduate programme in Ireland, these opportunities develop tomorrow’s leaders, creatives, and innovators. And, on the flip side, strong post-graduation work programs will continue to attract global students with both established excellence and high potential.

The ability to work while studying also ranked highly, but it only appeared in 68% of advisors’ lists of top factors, versus 75% in the Spring 2026 survey. This suggests that while this factor remains important, as policies guiding students’ ability to work while studying have largely stabilized post-COVID, it may be less of a deciding factor than it was in the early 2020s.

The proportionate rise of two other factors suggest reputation’s increased importance among this student cohort. Both highly-ranked institutions (up five percentage points to 24% of respondents) and good reputation as a study destination (up six percentage points to 19%) were featured in more advisors’ responses in Fall 2026 than in Spring 2026. As a very media-savvy generation, many students consult a diversity of sources when choosing their destination and college or university. Official institution rankings will often factor in, but so do alumni experiences and overall social media presence.

Along those lines, teaching quality also rose from 17% to 21% of responses in Fall 2026. This shift suggests that students and their advisors are paying increased attention to this metric within institution rankings, while also likely connecting with current students to get their perspective on specific instructors or faculties.

Germany Seen as Most Affordable Destination, Canada Rises to Second Place

79% of student advisors agreed that Germany was an affordable destination for their students, per the Fall 2026 Pulse Survey results. That’s almost 10 percentage points higher than the next destination (Canada, at 70% agreement):

With factors like free tuition at many public universities, even for international students, it’s understandable that Germany’s reputation for accessible education remains strong. While entrance to these universities is often competitive, and there are limited English-language programmes, students who are able to secure a place set themselves up for a world-class education.

Conversely, Ireland’s perceived affordability continues to dip, in line with the rising cost of living across the Emerald Isle. Ireland is one of the more expensive European countries to live in, and a limited supply of housing in Dublin and other major cities means that rent is a major part of most students’ budgets. Adding to students’ budgets is health care, as many medical services are not free at point of use, the way they are in the UK under the National Health Service.

Meanwhile, Canada is considered a more affordable destination by a growing proportion of advisors: 70% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed it was an affordable destination. Factors which may have influenced this shift include that the Canadian student visa proof-of-funds amount has only increased incrementally after it doubled in January 2024 to catch up with the average cost of living, thus making budgeting more predictable. Also, more students are pursuing programs outside of popular but often more expensive regions like southern Ontario and British Columbia. As they graduate, they’re likely to share their experience with prospective students, thus attracting new students to institutions across the country.

Building Institutional Strategy with ApplyBoard

These findings are only possible thanks to our global network of international student advisors. We’re grateful to everyone who shared their thoughts—thank you!

Ultimately, the Pulse Survey results reveal the diverse strengths of each of the study destinations ApplyBoard works with. The next step is to build strategies which leverage these strengths to attract the next cohort of students, whether it’s highlighting graduate engagement rates, leveraging real-time data to understand how students connect with your institution, or honing your institution’s onboarding material to center safety and welcome to all students.

If you’re part of an institution that wants to level up its international recruitment strategy, we can help to drive your success. Whether you’re looking for data-driven insights from our platform, or to meet with advisors at engaging webinars or our in-person events, ApplyBoard is consistently developing opportunities for academic institutions to respond to student needs.

To connect with our market insights, global partnership network, and platform data, please reach out to our Commercial Partnerships team.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1. The Fall 2026 ApplyBoard Pulse Survey ran between August 17 and September 4, 2026. It received 910 responses from international student advisors across 52 countries.

2. Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the UK, and the US. While ApplyBoard has recently launched support for new destinations (Malta, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates), this development occurred after the survey ended.