Navitas North America Exceeds Spring 2016 Enrollment Targets

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - Feb 19, 2016) - Navitas today announced 18% year-over-year growth across its North American partnerships, surpassing its ambitious enrollment goals for the Spring 2016 intake. Navitas' most recent partnership, Florida Atlantic University -- which exceeded its inaugural enrollment goal by 19% last fall -- continued an impressive growth trajectory, up 27% from the previous semester.

Navitas partnerships accelerate the internationalization of universities by increasing the quality, quantity and diversity of the international student population. Its proven Pathway program model provides the necessary acclimatization that international students require, thereby ensuring their academic readiness for university-level study. 

Fraser International College at Simon Fraser University, the very first Pathway program in all of North America and Navitas' most longstanding partnership in the region, will celebrate its 10^th anniversary this year -- demonstrating the company's commitment to helping its partner institutions improve opportunity and access for international students and prepare them for academic success.

To ensure that Pathway programs deliver on the promise of an exceptional student experience, Navitas considers student satisfaction rates a key success metric. According to the 2015 International Student Barometer (ISB), a survey deployed to over 2.3 million students across 1,400 institutions in 30 countries, nearly 87% of students enrolled in Navitas' North American partnership programs were satisfied with their experience -- higher than the global average of all ISB surveyed institutions. This high level of student satisfaction is reflected in an overall retention rate of 94% for Navitas North America Pathway programs and speaks to the personalized student support that is embedded into each and every partnership.

"The United States and Canada remain top destinations for international students. Our goal is to ensure not only that our university partners become leading study destination for those students, but that they are also able to retain and sustain those enrollments over time," said David Stremba, Executive Vice President, Global Business Development, Navitas. "We offer universities true partnerships that delivers the support and strategic guidance to ensure they are able to enhance their global profile and achieve long-term sustainable growth."

Navitas' commitment to partnership starts with strong leadership at each of Navitas' partnership programs. To this end, Navitas is proud to announce the appointment of Darcy Rollins to the position of College Director and Principal at the International College of Manitoba (ICM), which is operated in partnership with the University of Manitoba. Mr. Rollins will take the helm of one of Navitas' largest and fastest growing programs in the company's partnership network -- the University has achieved international student enrollment growth of over 1,200% since the launch of ICM in 2008.

Mr. Rollins has more than fifteen years of experience working with the government of Manitoba in a variety of roles, including Director of International Education and Executive Director of Corporate Services for the Department of Advanced Education and Learning and his current position, Manager of the Analytical Unit of the Treasury Board Secretariat. He joins the International College of Manitoba in early March.

"We couldn't be more pleased to welcome Darcy to Navitas," noted Bev Hudson, Executive General Manager, Navitas North America. "His expertise in post-secondary education and deep relationships within the Winnipeg community make him a great ambassador for the program, bringing tremendous value to our organization."

For over two decades, Navitas has supported more than 30 institutions across the globe in their efforts to achieve sustainable growth by cultivating a more diverse and internationalized campus.

About Navitas 
Navitas is a global higher education organization that has partnered with universities for over twenty years to increase access to higher education and prepare students for future success. Our collaborations accelerate our partner universities' internationalization goals resulting in stronger, more diverse international student population; improved academic outcomes; increased global profile for the institution; and sustainable revenue streams for reinvestment in key areas of the university. 

There are more than 80,000 students studying at Navitas programs around the world. North American university partners include Simon Fraser University, University of Manitoba, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of New Hampshire, and Florida Atlantic University. More information can be found at www.navitas.com or follow @Navitas.