How do Romanian universities promote their educational offer and what mechanisms are used to attract international students?

Abstract

Overarching strategies at the European level underline the importance of mobility, thus promoting the higher education offer should be among the key topics that dominate the internationalization agenda in Romania, in the context of a highly competitive market worldwide. The paper highlights the disconnect between the internationalization strategies of Romanian universities and concrete measures undertaken to promote their educational offer. The paper includes a short analysis of how HEIs promote their study offer internationally, using three Romanian universities as case studies. Starting from a review of institutional internationalization strategies, strategic plans for institutional development and methods and instruments used to promote their educational offer, the article also includes the analysis and conclusions of a questionnaire, highlighting the most popular promotional mechanisms used to attract international students. Conclusions show that HEIs perceive as the most effective promotional tools, i.e. the English website, word of mouth, participation at International Education Fairs, promotion via other portals. Despite international trends, social media is still not deemed essential to advertise their educational offer to international students.