This week sees i-studentgroup head to west coast Canada to attend the 2011 Annual NAFSA Conference and Expo in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The conference, which officially opens its doors on Sunday the 29th of May and runs through to Friday the 3rd of June, features hundreds of educational sessions and workshops, guest speakers, plenary panels and networking events. Each year the conference attracts thousands of participants representing institutions, educational organisations and service providers from over 100 countries.

One of the highlights of the conference is always the International Education Expo, where this year over 400 institutions and organisations will be exhibiting including i-studentgroup. If you are attending the conference, don’t forget to stop by and visit i-studentgroup at booth 906 to view our full range of websites and online services.

Throughout the expo i-studentgroup will demonstrating a range of their interactive brochures and apps as well as offering previews of the newly designed i-studentadvisor and i-studentlife sites due to be launched in mid June. Recent apps designed by i-studentgroup include the Flinders University app (Australia) and the University of Limerick app (Ireland), both available to download for free from the iTunes store.

“We’re all really excited to show the apps at NAFSA this year” says Louise Singleton, Head of Design at i-studentgroup, “both the i-studentgroup team and and the universities have worked very hard. A lot of the university apps in the App Store at the moment are templated so our bespoke design really stands out. We’re very happy with how the apps have come together!”

For more information on the NAFSA Conference, visit the NAFSA website at: 
http://www.nafsa.org

See you in Vancouver.

The Guardian asked Paul for his thoughts on the effects of the higher fees – now that it has emerged all universities will charge at least £6,000 – on the number of British students going abroad for their education, and how universities overseas are responding to the increase in demand. They quoted him as saying:

“Meanwhile, it has emerged that overseas universities are redoubling their efforts to recruit English students to their universities.

Paul Loftus, managing director of i-studentgroup, which helps universities in the UK, Australia, Canada, the US and New Zealand with their recruitment, said foreign universities were targeting the UK. “If overseas universities haven’t started lifting their recruitment efforts to try to get British students, they are now.”

Loftus said more British students than in the past were considering going abroad for university, in part because of higher fees. “Although the Australian dollar is strong, many British teenagers are enrolling on courses in Australia, Canada and New Zealand in particular.” ”

To see the full article, please click here.

For more information about studying abroad, please see the i-studentgroup website

The conference is being held at the Nice Acropolis Conference Center and begins on Friday the 19th of November and ends on Sunday the 22nd. Over the course of the conference a number of education related workshops will be offered, and conference organisers have also arranged a selection of featured speakers. The keynote speakers this year are Professor Sugata Mitra and child prodigy Adora Lily Svitak.

It will be the first year that i-studentgroup have exhibited at the conference and a great opportunity to showcase the online resources the company produce, which include the i-studentbrochure, i-studentlife and i-studentenquiry websites; and the i-studentadvisor e-magazines.

To learn more about i-studentgroup, why not visit us at stand number 110 in the Rhodes area.

The European Council of International Schools (ECIS) is a collaborative network promoting the ideals and best practice of international education. ECIS leads in addressing significant current and future educational and global issues in support of its membership in Europe and worldwide.

The fair is being hosted in the Intercontinental Cairo Citystars’ Hotel and will open to students from 5.00pm to 10.00pm on Tuesday the 12th and Wednesday the 13th of October.  Thousands of students are expected to attend.

All exhibitors including the i-studentgroup will have their tables set up in the Al Montaza room. i-studentgroup will also be attending the A2 Morocco fairs later this month, and the A2 Turkey fairs in November.

To learn more about the A2 International Education Fairs, visit: www.aafair.com

See you in Cairo.

We would like to thank all organisers at Northeastern University and Bridget Herrera and the OACAC Board Members for the organisation, care and attention to detail that went into making this year’s conference such a special event.

Highlights of the event included the High School and College Fair (proudly sponsored by i-studentgroup), the lobster dinner held in the idyllic grounds of Babson College, the annual dodge ball tournament, and Saturday night at the New England Aquarium, set against the backdrop of Boston Harbour.

Our thanks is also extended to all the attendees who hosted educational sessions – the selection on offer was fantastic and covered such a range of topics across the international education spectrum.

We are already looking forward to next year’s conference; set to be hosted by the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

Thank-you again to all those involved in the planning and execution of Bos10 – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

If you attended the OACAC Summer Conference, please feel free to share your comments or experiences.

We’re very pleased to present our Region III issue, the latest in our series of magazines exploring what the United States can offer to international students.

In previous years we have produced one annual USA magazine to cover all the states. However, this year, for ease of use we will be releasing eleven regional issues throughout the year, based on the 11 NAFSA (Association of International Educators) regions. We will then be releasing an annual of all the regions at the end of the year.

In this issue we delve into the culture and educational systems of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. It has been a pleasure working with professionals and students across these four states to build up a picture of the unique educational experience on offer for visitors from around the world.

We hope you enjoy the Region III issue and as always we would love to hear your feedback on the magazine. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch at editorial@i-studentadvisor.com

We’re also very excited to announce that ISA Media has now officially relaunched as i-studentgroup to reflect our growing number of services. You can visit our new website at www.i-studentgroup.com for all of the details; make sure to visit us on Facebook too at www.facebook.com/istudentadvisor

i-studentgroup will be attending the 17th annual OACAC Summer Conference. This year the Conference is being hosted by Northeastern University, situated in the thriving city of Boston, Massachusetts.

A total of nearly 900 counsellors, advisors, university admission staff, and other professionals in the higher education sector are set to attend the 3-day conference, which begins on Thursday the 15th of July.

The Conference will include the usual blend of educational workshops, hospitality and networking sessions and the high school/ college fair – which i-studentgroup are sponsoring.

Special events this year also include a New England dinner at Babson College, the annual OACAC dodgeball tournament and a closing gala set in the New England Aquarium, which lines Boston harbour.

For further information on the OACAC conference, visit: www.northeastern.edu/oacac

Alternately an OACAC app for Smartphone’s can be downloaded from the Apple Store or the Blackberry App World. Just search for OACAC Bos10. The app includes a conference schedule, campus map and details of the educational sessions.

See you in Boston.

The i-studentgroup have just returned from a five day trip to Istanbul, Turkey where we attended the highly successful A2 Fair

The Hilton Istanbul Hotel opened its doors on the 27th March to thousands of Turkish students all keen to gain more information on higher education. There were an impressive range of stands in attendance, representing universities, colleges and institutions from all over the world.

The i-studentgroup had a fantastic response from the visitors spanning across the two-day event, with a large number of students registering with our new online, university matching service – i-studentenquiry.com

We were also very lucky to visit with a number of local schools in Istanbul; where we met with counsellors and some of their pupils to introduce them to the wide variety of resources produced by the i-studentgroup. The response and feedback gained from these visits was fantastic and we can’t thank the schools enough for their time and the kindness they showed us.

Special thanks goes to:
The organisers of the A2 Fair for putting on a brilliant event and looking after us.
Ayda Köprülü and the Irmak High School
Şehrazat Saridereli and the Eyuboglu High School
Tara Dowling and the pupils of Uskudar American Academy
Sandi Engler, Güniz Durmus and the Enka Okullari Schools
David Dove and the MEF International School
Lane Ceylan and the pupils of Istanbul International Community School
Sue Williamson and the British International School
Asuman Okman and the Koç School

Four represantatives from i-studentadvisor are currently in Morocco at the a2 international education fair, meeting with international students and demonstrating the i-studentadvisor publications and

For more information on a2 international education fairs view their e-brochure — www.i-studentadvisor.com/a2fairs

The Sheraton Casablanca hotel opened its door to the a2  fair  on Wednesday, November 18th after a registration and welcome event the previous evening. The fair moved on to its second leg today and traveled south to the city of Marrakesh where the final two days of the fair are being held at the Le Méridien N’Fis Hotel. A full itinerary of the Morocco fair is available to download here.

i-studentadvisor (i-studentgroup) have so far received a fantastic response from the international students at both locations where they have been demonstrating the i-studentadvisor online publications and inviting the students to participate in the brand new i-studentadvisor enquiry service. The i-studentenquiry service has been created to help international students in their initial search for the right college, university or English language school to suit their individual needs. It is simple to use — just fill out the online form and our personal matching service will search hundreds of institutions to find the right match for their individual needs, they will then be contacted directly by the institutions with relevant information. visit www.i-studentenquiry.com

i-studentadvisor will be attending a number of a2 fairs over the course of 2010 and would love to see you there. For a calendar of upcoming fairs and details on how to register visit www.aafair.com.