Core Partnership Case Study: Pace University

Pace University is a nationally ranked private university with three campuses located in and around New York City.

• 13,609 Students

• 18% International

• 120 Countries represented

• 224 Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs

In 2018, longtime IDP partner Pace University identified several priorities for our partnership. Pace University was interested in building global brand awareness through digital marketing, using data to drive decision-making and inform their recruitment strategy, diversifying, and growing volume.

To address these goals, Pace University signed on as one of IDP’s Core Partners. Our premium end-to-end recruitment solution, the Core Partnership, supports students from their initial research all the way through to enrollment, harnessing the power of digital content marketing to guide students to the right institution. The Core Partnership provided Pace University with integrated solutions across three main areas: student placement, digital marketing, and data and intelligence.

Over the past three years, Pace University has seen considerable growth in volume of both applications and enrollments generated by IDP. Enrollments have seen triple digit growth year-over-year, while applications increased an impressive 131% from the 2021/22 to 2022/23 school year.

These applications and enrollments come from students who are assisted by our expert counselors in our 190+ global offices. Our counselors are commission blind, ensuring they always put the student first.

Pace University’s presence on our global network of student-facing institutional search websites, including Hotcourses and IDP sites, is supporting their diversification goals. Over the past year, Pace University had online engagements from students from 157 different countries.

Pace University 2022 Digital Marketing Results

Through its Content Hubs on Hotcourses and IDP websites, Pace University receives interactions and high-quality leads from students from diverse countries across the world.

The Core Partnership works effectively because it supports students across multiple channels over the entire course of their journey. As clearly demonstrated in Pace’s results, digital marketing is playing an increasingly important role in the student journey.

The share of IDP applications at Pace generated through digital marketing has increased significantly over the past three years. During the 2020/21 school year, 27% of IDP enrollments were attributed to digital marketing. By the 2022/23 school year, that percentage has increased to nearly 50%.

When breaking down enrollments by how the student heard about IDP, nearly all sources have seen growth over the past three years. In the 2022/23 school year, digital marketing overtook referrals and partners as the top source. There has also been a considerable uptick in students discovering Pace through events, which makes sense given the return to in-person recruitment events over the past year.

As a global leader in international education, our innovative use of digital technology, unparalleled live student data and global network of trusted local counselors provide insight and ensure success for both our students and partners. Through the Core Partnership, IDP has delivered success for Pace University in terms of volume, efficiency, diversity, and quality of international enrollments.