Education Recruitment Agents: for better or for worse?
Nov. 16, 2012 at 10:45 AM | By Charlotte O’Gorman | Comment Count
There has been a lot of discussion in the UK media recently about how HEIs use overseas agents to help them recruit international students and hit their ever increasing targets. Most of the discussion has been about whether the balance of power has shifted too much in favour of the agents, and whether there is sufficient transparency around how they operate, especially given the costs involved in using this recruitment channel.
Earlier this year Vincenzo Raimo, director - International Office at the University of Nottingham, raised a number of important questions about how universities work with agents, the need to ‘rebalance the relationship,’ and lastly the university’s recent decision to publish agent fees to increase transparency has created further waves in the sector.
Can I have a service level agreement with that, please?
Most of us who work in the international student recruitment field would agree that agents often form an integral part of an international office’s recruitment strategy and offer a cost-efficient way to market students overseas. Yet, it seems that whilst the use of agents has increased hugely over the last five years, agreed professional standards of practice and expectations seem to be lagging behind.
Although contracts are in place to determine recompense for the agent, it would be interesting to know how many institutions also define clear service level agreements and quality assurance measures to ensure agents act in the best interest of not only the institution but also of the student.
Enrolled student = good; retained student = even better!
Should there be an option to reward agents not just on the numbers of students they recruit, but also whether they are bringing in the right students that fit the institution? It is all well and good having an agent who recruits 100 students, but if half drop out within their first three months of study, where is the real return on investment for the institution and, more importantly, the student?
While it might be assumed that unhappy students can readily identify ineffective agents through word-of-month, our experience has shown otherwise. In surveying students on behalf of our university partners to find out why they have not accepted an offer to study, we frequently have seen the response: “I didn’t know I was made an offer for enrollment by them”. Or even worse, “I was told by my agent that I had been rejected,” when in fact they had been made an unconditional offer.
It’s the students!
For at the heart of all this is an individual student who seeks out an education agent to help them in their dream to study abroad. Which brings me to my final question:
Who are the agents working for? 
Are they there to serve the interests of the university? Are they there to support the student through all stages? Are they simply there for themselves? Which of these three factors takes precedence?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. When it comes to balancing the power of agents, institutions should not forget that it’s the students that are central to this equation and that the primary aim should align everyone’s interests to ensure the right student get in to the right school to ensure their study abroad experience is truly transformative.
For more on international education recruitment agents, check out these articles:
Agent Power and International Student Recruitment
International Student Recruitment and The Power of Agents
Grand Fee Paid For Each Foreign Student
Charlotte O’Gorman is an account director at Hobsons EMEA and has been working in international student recruitment for five years.
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