Fourteen per cent of US high schools are actively recruiting international students, according to a report by NACAC, which uncovered that visa restrictions mean private schools are more effective in recruiting, and education agents are the main conduit to market.
The US's new agent friendly environment was tangible at the AIRC conference this month, where universities were exploring how to be more strategic in filling funding gaps. The ambitious arena is also creating a fertile ground for an imminent boom in pathway providers.
US association NACAC has published a guide on working with education agencies for its 14,000 members, designed to ensure they understand the principles of accountability, transparency and integrity that the association says must be used if pursuing a commission-based international recruitment policy. A guide for parents is also planned.
I hope that one of these students becomes the President of Vietnam and says that I started my US higher education experience because of AAE! That’s my dream.
Recruitment strategies, managing relationships with agents and understanding secondary education ladders were at the forefront of over 80 educational sessions at the recent Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC) 21st annual conference earlier this month.
Quality and transparency in the use of agents in student recruitment were key themes in the fifth annual AIRC conference last week: the first held since NACAC reversed its policy against the use of commissioned agents in international recruitment.
After more than two years of debate, the National Association of College Admission Counselling (NACAC) has made a groundbreaking decision to allow its 13,000 members to use commission-based education agents to recruit international students. At the organisation's conference in Toronto this weekend, the governing assembly voted 152-47 to change NACAC's Statement of Principles of Good Practice.
US schools have been given a cautious go-ahead to use commission-based agents to recruit international students, after a report commissioned by the National Association of College Admissions Counsellors (NACAC) proposed that its members could, but should not use them. However, it also calls for new rules to ensure agents are used ethically.
