https://www.insidehighered.com/news/global/international-students-us/2024/01/12/international-admission-offices-plagued-fraud-and
As international recruitment markets shift to South Asia, some colleges are swamped with fake applications and last-minute transfers. Is the system too easy to exploit?
UK universities paying millions in agent fees to secure international students
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/18/uk-universities-paying-millions-in-agent-fees-to-secure-international-students
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-international-students-deserve-to-be-treated-as-more-than-just-a/
The Shadowy Business of International Education
https://thewalrus.ca/the-shadowy-business-of-international-education/
Agents connect students like Kushandeep with postsecondary institutions overseas. They often find the school, complete the paperwork, and apply for the visa. Despite this, they’re generally not paid by the students but by the institutions. Schools aren’t often forthcoming about their commissions, but multiple agents told me that the industry standard is 15 to 20 percent of a student’s first year of tuition—a rate that can net them anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 a head.
It’s a commission the institutions are more than willing to pay since it will be recouped by an international tuition close to five times higher than domestic fees. Today, attracting overseas students is a financial imperative. The result is a booming secondary economy built on top of the international student market, with immigration consultants and recruiters mushrooming up around the world.
B.C., Ontario planning crackdown on ‘bad actor’ colleges preying on international students
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-bc-ontario-planning-crack-down-on-bad-actor-colleges-preying-on/