2005
Spring American Education Fair
- Korea Post-Fair Report
American International Education Foundation (AIEF) is grateful for the support it has received from all of the U.S. educational institutions and organizations that participated in the 2005 Spring American Education Fair in Seoul. Included in this post-Fair report are details about the Spring Fair venue including attendance statistics, our Korean recruitment market update, pre-Fair orientation, Fair highlights, news about our student tracking system, AIEF night at Pul Hyanggi, and information on AIEF's 2005 Summer American Education Fair in Beijing and Fall American Education Fairs in Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Subjects covered in this
report:
2005 Korea Spring Fair Dates, Venue, and Results
According to local media reports, over 30,000 visitors attended the two-day Student Fair on March 26-27 at COEX in Seoul. This was almost double the number of visitors from last year. A Korea Trade Fair representative speculated that economic sluggishness and job insecurity were factors in bringing more people out.
Approximately 2,900 visitors came to the American Pavilion, coordinated by AIEF. AIEF received student registration data from 707 visitors, of which 691 were usable data. Following a review for accuracy by our staff, these data will be sent to all American Pavilion participants.
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Korean Market Update
Estimates are that over 187,000 Korean students are presently studying abroad. Korea ranks third, after India and China, among countries sending students to the United States. Other popular places for Korean students to study are the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, and China. These countries, and others, have been significantly stepping up their student recruitment activities in Korea in recent years.
The 2004 "Open Doors” report by IIE concludes that the number of Korean students studying in the United States was 52,484, representing a 1.9% increase over 2003. Approximately 43% of Korean students in the United States are studying at the undergraduate level, 47% are enrolled in graduate programs, and 10% are listed as non-degree or ESL students. In contrast with IIE's figures, a report prepared by Korea's Ministry of Education indicated that 56,390 Korean students were studying in the USA in 2004.
It was revealed in a survey of Korean students planning to study in the United States that business and engineering are the most popular fields. Other popular areas are computer science, information technology, communications and journalism, biological sciences, social sciences, arts, agriculture, and health care services.
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Orientation Program
AIEF's pre-Fair orientation was held at the Oakwood Premier Hotel on the morning of Saturday, March 26th. Orientation topics included a review of the Korean recruitment market, current market trends, and practical information about the COEX venue and on-site services. Ms. Rebecca Owens, consular officer from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, addressed the U.S. education delegation regarding student visa issues in Korea.
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Fair Highlights
Reserved only for official U.S. school representatives, the American Pavilion was located at the central section of the Korea Student Fair exhibition area. At the AIEF booth, our staff directed student traffic and offered free on-site counseling. In addition to the Fair Guide listing, AIEF also provided an additional handout to students, free of charge, that listed a summary of major programs offered by the participating schools. Furthermore, representatives of the U.S. Embassy and the Fulbright office in Korea were on hand at their respective booths throughout the event to answer questions posed by the public.
For no additional fee, AIEF arranged for interpreters from Korean colleges and universities to translate for each of the participating American schools; this customary service is always a highly rated feature of our events, as the student interpreters assist tremendously in bridging the language and culture gaps that sometimes arise. Korean-language signs were also provided at every booth to introduce the essential facts about each institution. In conjunction with the fair, several schools conducted individual sessions to introduce their institutions to prospective students.
To help Korean students learn the location of U.S. schools, AIEF printed color U.S. maps that were distributed free of charge to the American Pavilion's visitors. Many U.S. schools representatives found the maps to be a convenient way for them to point out where their institutions are situated geographically within the United States.
At the invitation of AIEF, Mr. Andrew Jay and Mr. Seth Bailey, U.S. Embassy consular officers, spoke at special sessions for students that focused on student visa issues.
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Student Tracking System
AIEF offered online pre-Fair registration as a service to the exhibition's visitors. Visitors to the American Pavilion were encouraged to register their educational goals and contact information in AIEF's student tracking system.
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AIEF Night at Pul Hyanggi
It was "AIEF Night” at Pul Hyanggi Korean Traditional Restaurant on the evening of Saturday, March 26. AIEF and KTF (Korea Trade Fair) co-hosted the Korean-style banquet for the U.S. school representatives at the restaurant, where traditional Korean music and dance performances are a nightly treat. KTF's president, Mr. Hongyu Lee, toasted the U.S. education delegation and wished everyone success at the fair. He stressed that AIEF is KTF's exclusive partner for bringing U.S. educational institutions to the Student Fair, the best-attended student recruitment event of its kind in Korea.
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2005 Summer and Fall American Education Fair Dates
Registration is now open for AIEF's 2005 Summer American Education Fair in Beijing, as well as for its Fall Fairs in Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. U.S. schools are encouraged to contact the American International Education Foundation to register early in order to reserve booth space for these popular events.
AIEF's 2005 Summer and Fall American Education Fair schedules are as follows:
Beijing - July 9-11
Seoul - September 24-25
Busan - September 27 (In cooperation with Korea Trade Fairs)
Taipei - October 1-2
Kaohsiung - October 3
Taichung - October 4
Singapore – October 7 (In cooperation with USEIC)
Online registration is available at:
http://www.aief-usa.org/services/signup_fair.htm. For more information, please call the AIEF office in California at 626-965-1995.
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