Elissa Newall on Reimagining Student Experiences

When Elissa Newall from Edified walks into a room, you know you’re about to learn something meaningful about the international education sector. Fresh off the release of Edified’s newest global Mystery Shopper results presented at AIEC, Elissa breaks down what’s really happening when prospective students reach out to universities. The wins, the misses, the opportunities, and the uncomfortable truths we avoid until the data forces us to look directly at them.We unpack why student engagement has improved worldwide, why Australian universities now lead on personalised communication, and why WhatsApp is quietly becoming the most powerful recruitment channel in the sector. We talk human connection, the X-factor students are hungry for, and why a warm, tailored message can be worth far more than a lightning-fast reply.And then we widen the lens. Elissa shares her honest concerns about where the sector is heading, the challenges we keep cycling through without solving, and what it might look like if Australia actually aligned around a shared national purpose for international education.It’s sharp, insightful, and absolutely packed with actionable intelligence.In this episode, we cover:• The newest findings from Edified’s global Mystery Shopper program• Why personalised responses are 7x more influential than fast ones• The rise of WhatsApp as the most effective student engagement channel• How universities can humanise their enquiry responses without adding workload• What Australian institutions are doing better than anyone else right now• Why students increasingly want “the insider view” – not generic info• The deeper sector-wide challenges we still haven’t solved• How international education could play a bigger national role if we aligned around shared goalsIf you care about student experience, future-proofing recruitment, or understanding where international education is heading, this conversation is unmissable.Global Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Gelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email [email protected]