Career prospects are the most important factor for international master’s students applying to US graduate schools, according to a recent report by World Education Services.

US institutions hoping to increase their international student recruitment should look to Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and Nigeria as the top for emerging markets to watch over the next three years.

A "megatrend" of rising international undergraduate mobility has been identified in a new study from research body World Education Services (WES). It suggests more students are studying abroad at a younger age and are able to pay for longer courses. It also offers institutions practical recommendations on how to tap the evolving market.

Overseas education has always been a booming industry, and in billion-plus and burgeoning India, its effects can only be reaped. Surplus demand for the best domestic colleges, and unrealistically high entrance requirements, set off around 400,000 young Indians overseas in search of a more rounded education each year. Arundati Dandapani assesses the appeal of some of the top destinations vying for a share of the Indian student market.

Two thirds of international students interested in studying in the US who use agents are "academically unprepared", a new study has claimed, with a majority of them wealthy rather than poor. The study also recommends that institutions using agents offer extra academic support.