While Louisiana’s flagship institution is bracing itself for what could be devastating cuts to its state financial support, the university still is moving forward with an initiative to expand its purple-and-gold brand outside domestic borders.
As Business Report details in a feature from the current issue, LSU is working to increase total enrollment by luring more international students to Baton Rouge through a newfound partnership with Shorelight Education. Shorelight is a Boston-based firm that specializes in financing and managing international student recruitment for universities nationwide.
The partnership is expected to boost freshmen enrollment by about 3,000 students over the next five years. The effort is intended to provide LSU with additional revenue in the form of more out-of-state tuition payments from international students while giving domestic students study-abroad and undergraduate grant opportunities.
In April, the partnership between Shorelight and LSU became official after more than two years in the making, and students already are knocking on LSU’s door.
“International students are looking for a high-quality American education in a welcoming environment that has all the experiences of a true American university,” says David Kurpius, LSU associate vice chancellor for enrollment management.
As LSU faces serious financial challenges in the fall, the Shorelight partnership provides the university the chance to innovate and improve students’ overall collegiate experience. What makes such a partnership possible is that Shorelight takes on the initial startup risk.
International recruits will pay out-of-state tuition to LSU, and only upon a full-time student’s completion of one academic year will LSU remit a recruitment fee back to Shorelight.
“We’ve done the due diligence to know this is a great opportunity, but the university doesn’t have to take that risk, and the university isn’t really in a position to take that risk,” says Tom Dretler, Shorelight’s co-founder and CEO.
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