Growth in US full-degree applications
An important part of the role of the International Office is recruitment of non-EU students to our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In recognition of an upward trend in the number of applications received from the United States of late, particularly at undergraduate level, Maynooth University is participating in the US Common Application system. This online system allows US students to apply for multiple undergraduate programmes across twenty countries. The International Office has noted a significant increase in the number of applications coming via Common App in recent months.
Maynooth University will be one of four Irish HEIs to host a delegation of North American high school counsellors during a visit to Ireland in February 2019. This tour, which is to be hosted by Education in Ireland, will have an innovation and interactive focus this year and involve numerous university departments and include at tour of Maynooth Works. The high school counsellors visit is a fantastic opportunity for the university to highlight its undergraduate offering to North American students.
As part of the focus on US full-degree recruitment, Jodi Killackey, International Officer, attended the National Association for College Admission Counselling (NACAC) conference in Utah in September 2018 with Education in Ireland. She met with a large number of high school counsellors at the conference and noted strong interest in our programmes amongst counsellors and their students.
Alison Cooke, International Officer, who is reponsible for the US full-degree promotion, will be travelling to the US in April 2019 to attend college fairs and meet with high school students and counsellors in New Jersey, Boston, New York and Providence, Rhode Island to order to share information about MU and it's programmes.
The International Office has a number of supports in place to assist US students. The office works with the Federal Student Aid section of the US Department of Education with regard to US student loan applications, with the US Department of Veteran Affairs in assisting military veterans who wish to study at Maynooth in receiving grants and with private US loan provider Sallie Mae.
We hope that the combination of our attractive degree offerings, together with IO's MU promtion efforts, our participation in the Common Application system and the supports offered to US students at the university will help increase the number of US full-degree students studying on our campus.