With international students increasingly turning away from the traditional “big four” study destinations – Australia, Canada, the US and the UK – and towards Asia for higher education, Malaysia has proven itself to be committed to pastoral excellence.

At the ICEF’ Berlin conference earlier this month, stakeholders from Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong shared how they were planning to compete with the big four.

Malaysia, however, really is going the extra mile for its overseas students, custom-building a highway fast lane just for international students. This road will exclusively shuttle international students to and from both the airport and university campuses.

After a 2024 spike in international university applicants, Malaysia has primarily concentrated on the effects of first impressions and pastoral practices.

The International Students Arrival Centre (ISAC) receives students from the airport, and quickly notifies the country of the student’s arrival.

Novie Tajuddin, CEO of Education Malaysia Global Services, told ICEF delegates that this special treatment “brings comfort to both students and parents”. He emphasised that pastoral care is Malaysia’s upmost priority, alongside making a good first impression.

This road and system is key for the “first impression about the country and how we receive international students. That actually goes out to the world, telling about the hospitality that we have,” he said.

The visa process in Malaysia takes as little as 10-14 days and Tajuddin stressed that the government intends to make visa processing as easy as possible for applicants.

In all efforts to increase its cohort of international students, Malaysia welcomes the use of agents.

“We all welcome agents, agents are part of the ecosystem of the education sector,” Taujuddin said.

Agents are part of the ecosystem of the education sector
^{_{Novie Tajuddin, Education Malaysia Global Services}}

Malaysian university courses are also based on the US liberal arts curriculum. This not only attracts students from the US, but also other international students who initially preferred the idea of a US university but are now looking elsewhere, according to Tajuddin.

This structure allows for accessibility, providing an American-style education but at a significantly lower rate.

The country’s unique commitment to customer satisfaction and the care of their international students places Malaysia as not just rising, but an innovator in international education.

In an exclusive interview with The PIE News, Ailsa Terry, The UK high commissioner to Malaysia, has previously said: “The UK and Malaysia both strongly believe that education is the foundation for success in terms of economic growth, wellbeing, social inclusion. You can’t really do any of these things without the right education,”