Recently there has been quite a bit of focus on the very good research and report by Bridge Education Group (BEC) – Pace of Adoption of International Student recruitment Agencies by US Institutions.
The BEC report was informed by survey responses in early 2016 from 131 US colleges and universities from 36 states.
The report showed that about 37% of US institutions are now using education agents to recruit international students. This is a slight increase from about 30% a few years ago.
This increased usage rate is one of the main points raised in commentary about the report. Some regard the pace of growth to be slow and healthy, while others find it alarming.
Importantly the Bridge report also found that approximately 22% of international students studying at the universities and colleges that responded were recruited by education agents.
Is there a bigger story here?
The Bridge research got us thinking about earlier research on the use of agents.
In 2012 the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) did a similar study on the use of agents. While the Bridge research was focused on the US market, the OBHE surveyed 181 higher education institutions in seven countries: Australia (14), Canada (37), Malaysia (7), Netherlands (7), New Zealand (10), the UK (52), and the US (54). Most were degree-granting universities and colleges.
So in relation to US institutions the sample size of the OBHE study (54) was smaller than the Bridge study (131), but the type of respondents – US universities and colleges – appears to be the same.
The table below provides the relevant results from the OBHE study:
So in 2012 reputable research found that about 11% of international students in US colleges were recruited by agents, and just four years later a another reputable study estimated that figure to be 22%.
That’s a pretty big deal. The proportion of international students in US colleges and universities has doubled in four years.
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Given that the rate of agency adoption has not doubled, it may suggest that those institutions that are using education agents are focusing much more on their agent recruitment channel and are getting better at managing their agents. However more research would be needed to get to the bottom of this.
Is it out of control?
Both the growth in the proportion of US institutions using education agents, and the increase in the percentage of international students in the US recruited by agents suggest that things are moving quite fast.
That trend is likely to continue. In answer to the question “Do you foresee that your institution would eventually find a way to work with education agents?”, 46% of the respondents to the Bridge survey said “yes”.
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At the same time, the Bridge report showed that the potential for fraud and unethical practice by agents is a big worry for many US institutions.
In order to bridge that gap between the opportunity that agents present, and the risks that they pose, it will be critical for US institutions to have good policies and systems in place to manage their agents effectively, including monitoring the performance and integrity of their agents.
AgentBee enables institutions to do just that.
If you are thinking about using agents but don’t know where to start, or need a better system to manage and monitor your existing agent network, AgentBee is worth a look.