The American International Recruitment Council (AIRC) recently announced three new educational institution members on Twitter: Wilson College, California State University, Stanislaus, and Troy University.
A big #NewMemberMonday welcome to @WilsonCollegePA !
— AIRC (@A_I_R_C) October 23, 2017
Hello @stan_state ! We are happy to have you be apart of the AIRC community! #newmembermonday
— AIRC (@A_I_R_C) October 16, 2017
Welcome to the AIRC community @TROYUnews ! We hope to see you at our conference this December! #newmembermonday
— AIRC (@A_I_R_C) October 9, 2017
The American International Recruitment Council was formed in 2008 with a clear mission:
[testimonials style=”6″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=””][testimonial name=”” company=”American%20International%20Recruitment%20Council” href=”https%3A%2F%2Fwww.airc-education.org%2Fairc-mission-statement” image=”https%3A%2F%2Fagentbee.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F10%2Fairc_big.jpg” button_text=”Read%20story”]%3Cp%3EThe%20American%20International%20Recruitment%20Council%20works%20to%20safeguard%20the%20interests%20of%20both%20international%20students%20and%20enrolling%20institutions%20through%20the%20promotion%20of%20ethical%2C%20standards-based%20international%20recruitment%20strategies.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
[/testimonial][/testimonials]
Since that time the organisation has grown quickly. According to its website the addition of the three newest members brings the total number of institutional members to 281.
The use of education agents by US universities has increased significantly since 2013 when the National Association for College Admission Counseling lifted a previous ban on the use of commissioned agents.
Research by Bridge Education Group in 2016 – Pace of Adoption of International Student Recruitment Agencies by U.S. Institutions.– produced some key findings:
- 37% of US Universities now work with education agents
- 34% have only started doing so in the last three years (i.e. since the NACAC ban was repealed)
- Institutions working directly with agents receive, on average, 22% of their international students through agencies (this compares to 38% in the UK, 41% in Canada, and 62% in Australia).
- 46% of institutions not currently working with education agents expect to do so in the future.
The data shows that the use of education agents, and the proportion of international students recruited through education agents, is set to grow steadily into the future.
The AIRC is well placed to support ethics and standards in this changing environment. For US institutions that are considering using education agents, membership of the American International Recruitment Council may be a very useful component of the design and implementation of best practice education agent management policies and practices.
Implementing best practice education agent management…
…is challenging and requires the investment of significant time and resources.
There is plenty of guidance on what to do. In the US NACAC’s Statement of Priniciples of Good Practice is the most important guidance document relevant to the use of education agents. In addition there is a growing body of best practice guidance across the world.
The challenge is how to do it. What to educational institutions do to implement education agent management best practice in their day-to-day business and international student enrollment processes?
An important part of the answer is having good systems to support efficient implementation of best practice.
AgentBee is a complete education agent management solution that does just that.
Click here for more info on AgentBee and to request a demo.