BI Norwegian Business School exchange and student recruitment in India

Exchange•Three exchange partners:

• Indian Institute of Management Calcutta• Management Development Institute Gurgoan• Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad

•5-10 students per year •Challenges:

• Academic calendar – Indian students arrive too late and leave too early

• Finances• Culture shock• Demanding programmes in India

Why recruit in India?•Second biggest exporter of students (China #1)

• For various reasons Indian students are beginning to move away from traditional destinations like Australia and UK

•English language proficiency•Good quality students – contribution to international

classroom•Huge interest in business studies at master level

• 205,000 CAT (Common Admission Test) takers in 2011• Most prestigious schools in India (IIM) have 2700 seats available

per year

BI India recruitment campaign•Started in 2008/2009•No fairs but information meetings in hotels•Main focus on master programmes

• But also bachelor programmes •Major urban centers: Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad,

Chennai, and most recently Pune•Local consultant/agent

Local help paves the way

And the agent/consultant

Helps you adapt to local traditions

Why consultant/agent?• Indian students are used to the concept of educational

agents and actually expect it• According to British Council more than 40% of Indian students use

agents•Local follow up of students is a great advantage

• More effective and cheaper•Consultant model secures commitment

• Long-term relationship• Costs!

Results (master programmes)2010 2011 2012

Info meetings 100-120 120-140 120-140applications 34 51 38Accept(first and second priority)

14 22 14

Rejects (first priority)

18 33 30

Students 5 14 3

Evaluation•Mismatch between background of students and study

programmes at BI• Vast majority of indian applying to business programmes have an

engineering background• Bridging programme?

•Campaign needs to be refocused on students with a business background

• Build relationships with colleges/universities that have undergraduate programmes in business/commerce etc

•Alumni are important• ’Placement’ is extremely important

• Internships!• Cooperation with Norwegian companies that are active in India

• ’GSU liste’ is major obstacle for recruitment at bachelor level

Threat: GSU liste?•All India Senior School Certificate (Standard 12) issued

by CBSE + 1 year university education or • Indian School Certificate (ISC Standard 12) issued by

CISCE + 1 year university education or •Higher Secondary Certificate issued by State Secondary

School Boards + 1 year university education or •Pre-University Examination Certificate + 1 year

university education or Intermediate Examination Certificate + 1 year university education

Meanwhile in Denmark• All India Senior School Certificate (AISSC) from Central Board of

Secondary Education (CBSE) + 1 year of higher education studies or equivalent supplementary studies.

=>A higher educational institution might within the institution’s discretion admit candidates with an All India Senior School Certificate (AISSC) passed with minimum 65%.

• Indian School Certificate (ISC) from Council for the Indian School Certificate (CISCE) + 1 year of higher education studies or equivalent supplementary studies.

=>A higher educational institution might within the institution’s discretion admit candidates with an Indian School Certificate (ISC) passed with minimum 65%.

• Higher Secondary Certificate or equivalent from other boards:=>An educational higher institution might within the

institution’s discretion admit candidates with a Higher Secondary Certificate passed with minimum 85%.

Status GSU liste•The use of the list is binding for admissions to first-cycle

studies pursuant to the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges of 1 April 2005. (FOR-2007-01-31-173).

•The use of the list is guiding for admissions to second- and third-cycle studies, subject-specific recognition and general recognition.

GSU liste and admission to Master•Most UG programmes in arts, commerce, science in India

are of three-year duration (engineering, technology: four years)

•Binding application of GSU liste to master admission will lead to demand of extra year of university education for three year bachelor programmes and further complicate recruitment to masterlevel studies in arts,business, science

My favourite hotel in India