Reflections from The PIE Live North America
The PIE’s mission is clear: to connect, inform, and build insight and opportunity for the global community of professionals in international education. Attending my first The PIE Live North America event in December - and having the opportunity to present - made it immediately evident that this mission is not just aspirational but actively realized.
The PIE Live North America draws professionals from across the international education ecosystem, including institutional leaders, policymakers, data experts, and solution providers. What sets this conference apart is its intentional design. It is a carefully curated gathering of thought leaders and disruptors who share a deep commitment to global mobility. From the moment the event began, it was clear that this was a space created not just for learning, but for connection and honest dialogue.
Key themes and takeaways
Three words best summarize my experience: insights, challenges, and opportunities. The agenda struck a thoughtful balance between big-picture conversations and practical, data-driven sessions. Student roundtables, policy updates, and thoughtful sessions created an atmosphere that was both engaging and allowed for networking.
Despite the very real challenges currently facing international education in both the United States and Canada, the overall tone of the event was one of optimism. There was a shared recognition that while external pressures continue to evolve, collaboration and learning across borders remain essential.
Sharing insights
I was especially honored to participate in the Data Superstars: Education Insights That Will Blow Your Mind panel. The conversation brought together leaders who are shaping the future of international education through analytics, research, and collaboration. During the session, QS Global Student Flows data highlighted a projected 4% annual growth rate in global international student numbers over the next five years, with the number of students studying abroad expected to exceed 8.5 million by 2030.
The shift from the traditional “big four” destination countries to what is rapidly becoming the “big fourteen” was discussed several times. I reinforced the fact that as students increasingly diversify where they choose to study, institutions must be prepared to support learners from a wider range of educational systems and backgrounds. I was able to share that this diversification has significant implications for admissions and enrollment teams, and that access to high-quality credential evaluation is a critical part of institutional readiness.
How ECE supports global mobility needs
At Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), this is the work we do every day. In just the past few years, ECE has evaluated academic documents from over 220 countries, in more than 100 languages, representing nearly 18,000 unique institutions worldwide. For many small and mid-sized universities - and even some larger ones - this level of global diversity can feel daunting.
That is why strong reference tools are essential. At ECE, we maintain detailed education system charts that include key qualifications, education levels, program lengths, national qualification framework levels, and progression pathways. These resources form the foundation for accurate, consistent, and defensible admissions decisions.
We also maintain a large sample document repository containing hundreds of thousands of academic documents. This allows our evaluators to compare formats, stamps, seals, signatures, and security features. As part of our mission, we share much of this knowledge publicly. And through ECE Connection AdvantageTM, institutional partners can access more than 6,300 academic credential samples from over 170 countries.
This work is increasingly important as fraudulent academic documents become more prevalent and more sophisticated, particularly as AI tools make replication and manipulation easier than ever. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss how ECE supports institutions in identifying fraudulent credentials and protecting the integrity of admissions decisions.
The expanding role of international partnerships
Another powerful theme at The PIE Live North America event was the growing importance of international partnerships. Initial findings from the new International Partnership Landscape Survey, launched by the IIE Center for International Partnerships, were shared at the event. As the only global survey focused exclusively on international partnerships in higher education, its insights point toward both expansion and evolution in how institutions and organizations collaborate globally.
Many successful partnerships begin with a simple conversation - one grounded in shared goals and mutual curiosity. The PIE Live North America provided the ideal environment for those conversations to happen organically. The networking was truly game-changing. For ECE, several casual discussions have already evolved into meaningful collaboration and partnership conversations, with real momentum behind them.
ECE was proud to sponsor this impactful event, and we are energized by the connections made and the future work they will support. The PIE Live North America reinforced for me that when thoughtful people come together with purpose, optimism, and a willingness to collaborate, meaningful progress follows.
I left the event inspired, grateful, and filled with hope for what lies ahead in global student mobility - and I am already looking forward to what comes next.
About the author: Stacy Riley serves as President of Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), bringing over three decades of higher education leadership experience. A champion for student success and equity, Stacy is energized by ECE’s global mission to help individuals achieve their educational and professional goals through fair, accurate credential evaluation. Prior to joining ECE, she served as the Executive Vice President of Student Affairs at Gateway Technical College in southeastern Wisconsin. Stacy holds a Doctor of Education from Northern Illinois University and is certified in Lean Six Sigma at the Black Belt level.