A new study abroad platform based out of Australia is promising “uninterrupted support” to both institutions and prospective students.
UniSearch’s new digital platform seeks to integrate “every step of study abroad in one place”, and “simplify” the study abroad process for students.
Founder and CEO of UniSearch – and former international student – Ashraf Haq said students “need to tackle many steps to successfully begin and complete their study abroad journey”.
“Most of the time, they don’t have complete access to all the information and processes to make it their ideal study abroad experience. This is the goal of UniSearch – to make the right solution accessible for every prospective international student, every step of the way,” he explained.
By the end of the year, UniSearch expects to reach 1.5 million prospects on the platform, and projects 5m from 2023.
Functionalities that the platform says streamline the student journey include research and shortlisting for universities, real-time counsellor, university, and student mentor engagement, and loan, health insurance and accommodation support. Additionally, students can find up-to-date internship and graduate work opportunities.
“The right way forward is a hybrid approach, combining the best of human expertise and smart technology”
Other one-stop solutions launched in recent years include from Leap, AdmitKard, KC Overseas Education, UniAcco, among others.
Through UniSearch, educator partners can reach “best-fit prospects” from a pool of over 100,000 users and streamlined enrolment pipelines with “real-time analytics of consumption behaviour within specific markets”, the edtech startup continued.
“We firmly believe that to remain responsive to the dynamic changes in the international student recruitment sector, and to continue providing students and universities uninterrupted support, the right way forward is a hybrid approach, combining the best of human expertise and smart technology,” a spokesperson told The PIE.
“We are currently operating three on-site offices in India and one in Malaysia, supplementing our online support with regional expertise.”
“The volume of international student prospects can only be managed with technology to screen for the best-fit students, while one-to-one human connection is absolutely necessary for successful conversion and recruitment,” Haq added.
“This is all the more important in a post-Covid-19 world, to minimise disruptions within the student recruitment sector and keep prospective international student applications on track.”
Plans to establish on-site operations in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the UAE within 2022 are underway.
“Our virtual offices are running full-time in our areas of operation, with the infrastructure in place to implement as we expand globally,” the spokesperson concluded.
