Almost one in four international school students say AI has changed their mind about their university plans - in terms of the country they would study in, the institution they would attend or the course they would pursue.
The finding is revealed today in the results of a survey of more than 4,800 international students from 106 countries, examining their attitudes, motivations and intentions when it comes to university.
For the majority of students, the research finds, AI is being used to validate rather than redirect their university choices, with 61 per cent of prospective and applied students saying it confirmed their decisions.
However, for 23 per cent of the students surveyed, their interactions with AI were more significant and it actually changed their preferences.
The role of AI in university decisions
Among these students, their choice of institution was impacted the most by AI, with 71 per cent changing their university, college or other institution, compared with 62 per cent changing destination and 53 per cent changing course.
Overall, generative AI - for instance, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and DeepSeek - was one of the five most commonly used information sources among students researching study options, according to .
The research reveals, though, that AI has not become the dominant source for university insights, with university websites (60 per cent), university rankings (46 per cent) and course comparison websites (42 per cent) also used.
Meanwhile, the report stresses that “personal recommendations and direct interactions remain important” in students’ university decisions: more than a third of students surveyed said they used education counsellors or other professional advisors (37 per cent) and talked with family and friends (37 per cent).
Simon Emmett, chief partner officer at IDP Education, says: “Our research shows that human advice from counsellors, friends or family and real students and generative AI appear to serve complementary roles rather than competing ones.
“They both help students navigate complex decisions, with counsellors remaining particularly relevant for high-stakes, personalised issues.”
For school leaders around the world, the rise of AI as a research tool when it comes to decisions around higher education is definitely a trend they have seen.
An efficient way of researching
Adam McRoy, headmaster of Cogdel Cranleigh School Changsha, in China, tells Vlog he thinks that AI is undoubtedly playing a part in students’ decision-making processes.
This is not, in itself, a bad thing, says McRoy - in fact, his school encourages it. But he stresses that AI should be “a starting point rather than the final authority” and that students must always be encouraged “to verify what they find” through official university sources and conversations with school university guidance staff, given that information unearthed through AI can sometimes be “inaccurate or outdated”.
He says: “We’ve not really seen students using AI to decide what to study, but we’re certainly seeing them use it to help decide where to study.
“With so many universities to choose from, students can quickly compare institutions, explore what different universities have to offer and narrow down their options before heading to individual university websites to investigate further.
“It’s a much more efficient way of doing that initial research.”
Rob Millar, principal of Shrewsbury International School Bangkok Riverside, in Thailand, also says he has “no doubt” students are using generative AI to help them make choices around university.
But he says his experience is that “like most student use of A,I it is not something they will openly admit”.
“Given the wealth of expertise already available to them in school, we would always advise them to speak with one of our HE [higher education] team first,” he says.
At Tanglin Trust School, in Singapore, staff report that “many students” are using AI in the university research process in the same way they would use other tools like Google and sources of information like university websites and Ucas.
They use AI to research admissions and application information, explore courses and majors, understand campus facilities, environments and communities, and compare universities, the school’s chief executive, Craig Considine, tells Vlog.
Again, though, the feeling is that this stops short of a total reliance on AI to make choices.
However, AI is not just influencing students’ decision-making around where and what to study because of the advice it gives.
AI career choices
It is, international school leaders report, also influencing students as they try to predict the impact AI is going to have on the labour market and, most importantly, the jobs it could render redundant.
McRoy says: “We’ve seen a really pronounced increase in anxiety among students about their choice of university major, specifically around the fear of choosing a ‘useless degree’ that might leave them struggling to find employment because AI has replaced the jobs they were hoping to pursue.
“It’s becoming a significant consideration in their thinking about the future, and something we’re increasingly having to address in our university guidance conversations.”
That students are mindful of the impact AI could have on the labour market is also reflected in the IDP survey data.
It shows that 8 per cent of participants became less interested in a particular pathway because they thought AI would reduce job opportunities; a third increased their interest in a subject because of AI-related job opportunities; and 25 per cent looked for a course that included AI skills or teaching about AI.
Nevertheless, a total of 27 per cent appeared unconcerned, reporting that AI - and its potential future impact on job opportunities - did not influence their choice of subject or course.
Still, like McRoy, Zeba Clarke, principal of St George’s International School, in Luxembourg, has also started to note students taking account of “the long-term impact of AI on their job prospects”.
This is not having a major influence on university applications as yet, she says, but there has been “a slight move away from subjects that students see as likely to be affected by AI”, including law and accountancy.
Affordability and environment
Clarke also recognises the survey finding that affordability is influencing international students’ decisions about future study.
She says it used to be that about 80 per cent of St George’s students attended UK universities, but following Brexit and the imposition of international fees on EU students and non-resident Brits, that figure has fallen to around 45 per cent.
Instead, Clarke says, students are favouring universities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain, where courses in English are offered.
The research finds that “cost pressure is increasingly shaping student behaviour” - with cost also the top reason given by students for considering a branch campus of a foreign university based closer to home.
Millar says he has some experience of this in terms of students attending Thai universities that have partnerships with an institution in the UK; for example, the University of Nottingham’s joint medical degree with Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) in Bangkok.
He says: “This offers families a good balance of cost considerations, students staying near their families in country, alongside the opportunity to study abroad for a part of the degree. Plus, with a medical degree a clearer path to practising medicine in their home country.”
The school is also seeing more diversity in terms of destinations, he says, but the UK, the US and Thailand continue to dominate.
At Tanglin, which is also a British school, it is a similar story. Considine says there has been “an increased interest in more local options, here in Singapore and Hong Kong” and “a greater range of institutions globally applied to” but the UK remains the top choice.
Australia’s warning signs
That shouldn’t be taken for granted, though, warns Emmett.
Australia, the survey found, was the first-choice destination for the highest proportion of international students (followed by the UK and the US, which were tied). But Australia’s popularity had taken a hit in this latest iteration of the survey - something that was put down to “policy changes” and “unwelcoming messages”.
In just six months, the research says, Australia’s lead as students’ first-choice destination fell from 31 per cent to 24 per cent.
So, while AI is increasingly influencing where students go and what they want to study, the message is that there is still much individual countries can do to make themselves more or, indeed, less attractive.
Therefore, they need to be mindful of “the policies they implement and the messages they send”, says Emmett.
“Once a student chooses another country, it’s incredibly hard to win them back,” he says.
However, he adds that those who report deciding against studying overseas often have postponed rather than abandoned their international study ambitions and therefore there remains “a big opportunity” to “re-engage decliners”.
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