The Beijing Overseas Study Service Association (BOSSA) is China’s largest agency association, representing 69 of China’s 419 state-endorsed agencies. Xuewen E, Executive Vice President, talks to The PIE about the evolving agency market there.
The PIE: How was BOSSA established?
XE: BOSSA was established by agencies who were government registered and operating in the Beijing area. Currently we have a membership of about 69 (all are agencies bar one which is a commercial bank). We are the biggest agent association in China, and the only independent association of this nature in China.
The PIE: How do you help your members?
XE: We promote and advocate for them on our website and through other channels. We work jointly to give suggestions and advice to the government for policy making which might favour our members. We also organise international events and provide a newsletter for members. These resources are free of charge.
The PIE: How are education agents viewed in China?
XE: There has been some scepticism and criticism against agencies for poor or illegal practice. But since 2000, the Chinese government has started to license agencies, so only those officially registered have the legal status to run their business. Those which have not been licensed or certified get the criticism from the public. However, once agencies are registered with BOSSA, we put them on a list which is published in the media and on our website so students can find a reputable, legal agent.
“It’s good news for those licensed, not such good news for newcomers who have to subcontract”
There are only 419 government licensed agencies in total across China – so there are many more illegal agencies than legal ones. Also foreign universities have representatives recruiting in China, which is strictly speaking illegal because they are also not registered. One problem is that the government is reluctant to give more licences to agents because they think the number is good enough to handle the market. It’s good news for those licensed, not such good news for newcomers who have to subcontract with license holders.
The PIE: Are you trying to get more licensed agencies to join BOSSA?
XE: We want to extend out membership to agents registered outside Beijing because in many cities, even though they have agents, they do not have the kind of resources and contacts we have here. So many students choose to come to Beijing for help. But the regional governments don’t like this, they want to keep the business there. But if we can have them join with our organisation we can share the resources, and parents won’t have to travel long distances to Beijing. They can get same quality of service across China.
The PIE: What other challenges does China face with study abroad at the moment, if any?
XE: Well, even though the numbers are growing, I wouldn’t say all the students have found the university programme of their first choice. This is because, to speak frankly, most students study abroad with the help of agents. Only 20% do it by themselves. Maybe another 10% go through university exchange or scholarship schemes. If a student chooses to go to a university which doesn’t give a high commission then many agents may send them somewhere where they can make more money.
“We would like to see certification of agencies, or certification of consultancy staff based on the specific area they are working in”
That’s bad practice and should be stopped. Unfortunately, our organisation doesn’t have the authority to go out and check on those illegal agencies and stop them, we only monitor our own agents.
The PIE: How could BOSSA reduce agent fraud in China?
XE: It’s a tough, tough task! First we try to strengthen agent standards. Second we would like to see certification of agencies, or certification of consultancy staff based on the specific area they are working in. For example, if you want to work with the USA, then you would need to go through a certain evaluation procedure to make sure you’re qualified. [more>>]
We would also invite foreign partners to give training to our agents; bring more members and partners to conferences so they can keep up to date; and continue to be tough on complaints. We can definitely strike off a bad agent and they will be blacklisted.
The PIE: You’re working on a pilot scheme to help Korean universities circumvent fraudulent Chinese agents. Can you elaborate on this?
XE: We have established the “Green Platform” scheme because of the complaints from Korean institutions. They have been working with many Chinese agents, some which are reliable, many not so good. We will work with a number of Korean university partners, putting information about them on our website and creating an online application system.
Chinese students wishing to study in Korea will first come to our site, log onto our system, then make their choice. We will help them to identify a suitable agent and monitor the whole application process. If anything goes wrong we can easily spot it and correct it. We will also ensure all documents, such as proof of certificates and credentials are genuine. In that way both students and universities can feel more comfortable.
The PIE: Would you consider extending this to other countries?
XE: If it proves to be successful we want to use it in other countries. What we would need is a partner in a given country that can pull all of the colleges together as a team to work directly with us. It’s more cost effective this way. But for countries such as Malta that have a small number of higher education institutions it would be simple to begin working with them.
“Career counselling will be our next concern”
The PIE: BOSSA is working to help students find work in China after studying abroad. Can you tell us about this?
XE: (A growing number of Chinese are returning after studying abroad but struggling to enter an evermore competitive job market) Career counselling will be our next concern, in order to help parents make a reasonable decision for their children. We also want to develop a good system to help students get internships while they are studying overseas, not after they’ve finished, to help them come back for short-term training during holidays so they can get to know the Chinese job market.
The PIE: What is BOSSA doing to increase student traffic with other Asian countries?
We have established a close partner relationship with Korea’s National Institute for International Education and the Singaporean Department of tourism. We are also talking about mutual recognition of membership with Korea Overseas Study Association (KOSA) and Japan Association of Overseas Study (JAOS) so we can work together to promote our programmes.
“More and more are going abroad at an earlier age… that is going to be a big trend”
The PIE: What trends do you see in the Chinese market in 2012/13?
I think the countries of destination will remain the same, the profile of students may change though. In the past the majority going abroad were graduates. Now more and more are going abroad at an earlier age, for middle or high school, or even elementary school. So that is going to be a big trend.
