Our hosts are then joined by an expert panel for a thoughtful discussion on the data, narratives, and policy alignment that will shape the future of our sector in destinations around the world.

Our panel for this episode includes Jeremy Neufeld, the Director of Immigration Policy for the ; Natalie Lulia, the Regional Director Americas, Europe & Gulf Cooperation Council, Councellor 鈥� Education with ; and Cindy McIntyre, Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff at the (CBIE).

You can listen right now in the player below, and we encourage you to subscribe via your favourite podcast app in order to receive future episodes automatically.

For additional background, please see:

• “黑料官网 Podcast: Live from 黑料官网 Berlin 2025“

The post 黑料官网 Podcast: Engine of growth: The true value and impact of the international education sector appeared first on 黑料官网 Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

But immigration settings are never permanent, and research shows that substantial voting blocs in key destination countries are both concerned about immigration levels and supportive of maintaining or increasing international student numbers. In other words, they do not lump international students into general misgivings about immigration. This is important for educators to consider amidst increasingly strict visa settings that are impacting their ability to recruit overseas. If the voting public distinguishes between international students and other categories of migrants, it makes sense that governments should consider this in their policy-making.

Today, we are reporting on research showing that:

• Young Americans have notably different attitudes about their president and his approach to immigration than their older counterparts;
• Britons and Australians draw a distinct line between immigrants and international students, with support for the latter category much stronger than for the former;
• More than half of Australians polled in 2025 are in favour of maintaining or increasing international student numbers;
• People are more influenced by widely circulating narratives about immigration than by quantitative information.

Young Americans see things differently than their older counterparts

In April 2025, the surveyed 4,100 registered voters and featured an oversample of more than 2,000 respondents aged 18 to 29 (i.e., this age range was intentionally over-represented in the poll).

While the research covered a wide range of topics, it featured a particular focus on education and immigration. Yale Youth Poll Director Milan Singh said:

鈥淭he poll is focused on what topics are relevant to right now. Questions on whether international students should be deported, or have their visa revoked. We wanted to gauge what people feel about federal funding cuts to universities, whether they should issue political statements or positions on social issues, whether people feel positively or negatively towards the Ivy League or other elite private universities.鈥�

The highlights of differences between younger and older cohorts in the sample include:

• The youth segment (under age 30) gave a 鈥渘et favourability鈥� score to President Trump of -18% (i.e., an 鈥渦nfavourable鈥� opinion) compared to the full-sample score for President Trump of +6%.

• Among youth, 79% said the level of legal immigration should be increased (40%) or remain the same (39%). This is considerably higher than the average across the sample: 50% (30% 鈥渟hould be increased鈥� and 20% 鈥渞emain the same鈥�).

• More than three-quarters (79%) of youth oppose deporting international students who participated in campus protests against Israel鈥檚 war in Gaza, compared with a sample-wide average of 62.5%.

Of the finding that 8 in 10 young voters opposed the deportation of international student protesters, Yale鈥檚 Mr Singh commented: 鈥淲e wanted to measure just how unpopular this idea is, and it turns out, among young voters, it鈥檚 extremely unpopular.鈥�

Voters in the UK and Australia differentiate between international students and immigrants

Research conducted earlier this year by the immigration think tank based on focus groups in six UK cities and a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 people found that:

鈥淭he public perceive international students positively. The survey found almost six in ten (59%) agree that universities would have less funding to invest in top quality facilities and teaching without the higher fees paid by international students, with only 10% disagreeing. And 54%) agreed that international students enhance the reputation of UK universities overseas, with only 11% disagreeing.鈥�

In addition, the research revealed that 鈥渙nly 28% of respondents categorise international students as immigrants, compared to 38% for migrant workers. The top two groups perceived as immigrants are asylum seekers (62%) and recipients of humanitarian visas (46%).鈥�

In Australia, an early-2025 survey of 5,000 respondents undertaken by the (ANU) found that more than half of Australians (53%) consider immigration levels in their country to be too high. However, an even larger percentage (58%) said there should either be no change or an increase in the number of international students enrolled in Australia, again illustrating the distinction people make between immigrants and international students.

The role of narrative

A study called 鈥淣arratives, information and immigration policy preferences鈥� by Alyssa Leng, Ryan Edwards, and Terence Wood for ANU鈥檚 reveals the significant way in which narratives broadcast by governments and the media influence public perception of international students and immigrants. The study was conducted in 2024 and funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The study explored the extent to which opinions about immigrants shifts according to:

• 鈥淎 one-shot narrative information treatment on the costs or benefits of immigration for the receiving country population;
• A bundle of factual quantitative information about immigrants鈥� characteristics.鈥�

The way the study was set up was that three groups of respondents were provided with one of three narratives (i.e., stories) about immigration before being asked about what they felt about the number of migrants of various profiles that should be allowed into Australia. One of the narratives was positive, one was balanced, and one was negative. Then another group, the fourth group, was provided a bundle of quantitative facts about immigration 鈥� that is, objective information rather than narratives.

Not surprisingly, what the study found was:

鈥淲hile narratively informing respondents of the perceived 鈥榥egative鈥� impacts of immigration on house prices does not substantially change the likelihood that respondents prefer more immigration, it decreases the probability that respondents express support for immigration levels remaining the same or increasing by around five percentage points. Showing respondents a narrative vignette emphasising immigrants鈥� positive contributions generates larger increases in the likelihood of supporting more immigration than providing quantitative information (between 4鈥�7 and around 2percentage points, respectively).鈥�

Why is the study relevant for educators in Big Four countries?

The study sheds light on the power of narrative on public sentiment and government policies. For example, if the media turns its focus on a handful of economists鈥� assertions that international students are to blame for housing or healthcare problems, a snowball effect tends to occur where:

• The economists’ position gathers steam (e.g., becomes picked up by more media outlets and thus is seen by more viewers/readers);
• The government is pressured to react to an associated public (aka voter) sentiment that something must be done about international students.

By extension, this phenomenon suggests that efforts by international education stakeholders to shift the narrative are worthwhile, provided those efforts are backed by solid research and accompanied by a strong media strategy and coordinated lobbying.

For example, in Australia in 2024, research commissioned by the Student Accommodation Council, a peak body for the country鈥檚 purpose-built student accommodation sector (PBSA), found no alignment between the return of international students to Australia 鈥� after borders reopened post-pandemic 鈥� and rents increasing. This finding was in direct contradiction with the media and governmental narrative circulating at the time.

One highlight of the research was that international students make up only 4% of all renters in Australia. Domestic students compose 6.2%, and the remainder are non-students. What鈥檚 more, the study found that the vast majority of international students do not live in the housing most in demand in Australia: only 3% of international students live in detached houses suitable for couples or families, while 74% live in PBSA close to universities.

Taking accountability

None of this is to say that the international education sector in places such as Canada and Australia has not played a role in the ebb of public support for recruiting international students. Before the tightening of immigration settings in those countries, international student enrolments were growing at an unsustainable pace and the line between education and 鈥渆dugration鈥� (the pursuit of education abroad as a pathway to permanent residency) was ever more opaque.

But responsible recruiting of international students is another matter altogether, and it is to the benefit of educators, domestic students, international students, governments, and economies that this be not only allowed, but also fully supported. When international students are vetted carefully for their suitability for institutions and programmes, encouraged to consider programmes linked to labour force needs, and supported in career pathways that contribute to productivity and innovation, they are crucial elements of a country鈥檚 future competitiveness, development, and place in the global economy.

And so going into 2026, the importance of schools, colleges, universities, and peak bodies collecting data and presenting compelling narratives about the value of international education has never been higher. The research we profiled today shows that voters in the US, Australia, and UK are open to the benefits of certain immigration pathways, including international students and highly skilled workers. That research is often supported by peak international bodies in those countries.

Meanwhile in Canada, linking responsible international recruitment to the sustainability of crucial programmes and research initiatives 鈥� and to the larger social and economic goals of the country 鈥� is a narrative well worth developing and advancing.

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Since 1995, 黑料官网 Berlin has served as a catalyst for connecting the world through education. With our 30th anniversary approaching, our sector is facing a new challenge: the need to build better systems and standards for ensuring transparency, compliance, and student wellbeing.

In all four of the world鈥檚 leading study destinations 鈥� Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US 鈥� governments are taking a closer look at how students are recruited. From tightening visa policies and integrity audits to mandatory declarations of agent use, the message is clear: compliance and accountability are now as critical as marketing and conversion. The challenge now is to reshape how institutions, agents, and governments interact in this new context.

The next thirty years will belong to those who not only recruit globally, but who also act responsibly.

How it all began

In the 1990s, international education was still a limited, even experimental, activity. Apart from short-term language study holidays within Europe, students from a small number of countries travelled mainly to the UK and the US for tertiary studies or exchanges. Yet the soft power, innovation, revenue, and intercultural understanding generated by student mobility soon drew in many more students, institutions, and destinations. What began as a trickle of cross-border enrolments became a pillar of globalisation.

Three decades of expansion

In 2002, there were roughly 2.5 million international students worldwide, of whom more than a third came from China. By 2023, that number reached nearly 7 million, a 176% increase.

These numbers reflect a focus on growth. The expansion in outbound mobility did not only benefit schools and universities, but it also boosted governments and entire economies. In 2021/22, international student spending contributed US$52.2 billion to the UK economy and US$26.5 billion to Canada鈥檚. In 2023/24, it accounted for US$32.7 billion in Australia and US$43.8 billion in the United States.

The benefits are not just fiscal. Nearly 60% of international doctoral students in the OECD study science or engineering. They drive research and innovation and lead major start-ups. Their collaborations consistently produce high-impact papers and cutting-edge research. In short, the mobility pipeline feeds the innovation pipeline. The lab bench does not care about passports, and the citation record proves it.

The cultural dividend of international student mobility is impossible to measure. International students bring the world closer together, forming friendships, business partnerships, and academic networks that last a lifetime. They return home as ambassadors for their host countries, carrying new languages, values, and professional skills that shape diplomacy and multilateral trade. In a world increasingly divided by politics, international education remains one of the few systems that consistently builds bridges rather than borders.

Thirty years of connection and change

Over the past three decades, 黑料官网 Berlin has grown alongside the industry itself, from a small gathering in 1995 to the world鈥檚 leading forum for international education partnerships. As always, the focus of the event evolves in response to changing circumstances, regulatory environments, and sectoral trends. Providing systems and structures that support greater transparency, trust, and accountability is not a new priority for 黑料官网 鈥� it is a pillar of our operations. What鈥檚 more, we now offer agents and institutions more programmes and services supporting greater integrity and quality control than ever before.聽

The human infrastructure behind it all

When thinking of what has driven the success of the industry so far, it would be wrong to underestimate the role of education agents. For decades, agents have helped families to navigate complex systems, translated opaque policies into clear expectations, and made international study accessible far beyond elite circles. Agents function as counsellors, logistics experts, and cross-cultural guides.

In fact, education agents have become one of the most quietly powerful forces in international education. They perform a unique dual role by guiding families through complex admissions systems and helping universities to reach more students in a diverse range of markets.

Yet as new regulatory frameworks emerge, such as the UK鈥檚 Agent Quality Framework and Canada鈥檚 pending federal registry for education agents, we risk forgetting just how much value these intermediaries create.

Guardrails but not roadblocks

No one disputes the need for higher professional standards, transparent data, and accountability. The scandals and negative headlines we have all seen in recent years show what happens when those are absent. But as it stands, policy makers have often blurred the distinction between unethical operators and legitimate, responsible businesses.

Without that distinction, the danger is that the blunt compliance mechanisms, however well intentioned, could consolidate market power among a handful of large agencies. This would leave local experts behind, and it would limit student choice. What is needed is not less oversight, but smarter oversight built on shared data, sound codes of practice, and technologies that make it easier to scale quality controls.

In this environment, voluntary accreditation frameworks such as聽聽are helping to raise standards globally. With more than 2,300 accredited agencies in over 130 countries and nearly 700 institutional supporters across 50 countries, IAS has become the world鈥檚 largest quality-assurance framework for education agencies. It recognises businesses that meet rigorous ethical and operational criteria, providing governments and educators with a trusted benchmark of professional integrity. IAS demonstrates that accountability can be collaborative when well considered and structured.

Collaboration and systematised quality controls are essential for sustainable growth in the new era of international education.聽, for example, brings transparency to both sides of the recruitment relationship.

For institutions, it offers AI-powered analytics and real-time data for comprehensive due diligence checks on agent partners, flagging potential risks early by monitoring regulatory sanctions, legal filings, and social media activity.

For agents, it provides tools to protect their reputation and gain clearer visibility into their sub-agent networks, helping them demonstrate integrity and meet rising government expectations for accountability.

These innovations are supported by a broader commitment to professional development through聽, which today counts more than 144,000 registered learners and over 21,000 graduates across 130 countries. 黑料官网 Academy provides structured learning pathways for education counsellors, institutional staff, and sector professionals, making training and certification measurable and accessible worldwide.

罢丑别听聽platform gives educators a practical way to ensure their recruitment partners are both effective and compliant. It enables structured, multilingual training for agent networks so that every counsellor understands an institution鈥檚 background and academic offer, admissions process, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements. It also allows institutions to monitor counsellor progress and training outcomes, giving them clear visibility and measurable oversight of network-wide compliance. The platform is equally valuable for master agents, who can use it to train and inform their sub-agents.

Beyond professional development, Train Your Agents helps educators to demonstrate compliance, protect institutional reputation, and support agents with credible, up-to-date knowledge. In an era demanding transparency, it provides clear proof of responsible recruitment across the global network.

These tools are not about policing; they are about empowering international educators and promoting quality assurance. Together, IAS, Due Diligent, and Train Your Agents create a framework where integrity becomes operational, where compliance strengthens opportunity rather than constraining it.

The next thirty years

If the past three decades were about expansion, the next will be about trust. Collaboration between governments, educators, and quality agencies will be essential to achieve this.

International education remains one of the most positive forms of global exchange ever created. The small agency owner in Nairobi, Lahore, or Ho Chi Minh City, the one who knows every student鈥檚 family by name, is as vital to that ecosystem as the vice-chancellor or the minister.

At its core, international education has always been about students. We should welcome and design frameworks and partnership models that protect their dreams and ambitions while empowering responsible agents and institutions to support them safely. The future belongs to those who evolve, embrace transparency, and continue to earn the trust of the students we serve.

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DEMAND AND REVENUE OPTIMISATION

鈥淗alf the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don鈥檛 know which half,鈥� observed businessman and political figure John Wanamaker (1838鈥�1922). This famous truism is relevant to the international education sector, where many institutions still do a lot of guessing about what is going right or wrong with regards to recruitment, marketing, on-campus student services, and admissions management.

The time for guessing is over. Demand for study abroad is volatile and fast-changing; students are considering an ever-wider range of destinations and institutions. Committing to data-backed strategies is the only way to remain competitive and to maximise return-on-investment (ROI).

It鈥檚 tempting to believe that intuition 鈥� perhaps based on years of experience and success 鈥� is enough, especially when margins are tight and data collection and analysis seems like a big investment. But consider this scenario:

Your institution ran a campaign or scholarship initiative that yielded some good results in a key market. But, could those initiatives have performed even better? Did the scholarship need to be that large or would demand have remained strong if it had been smaller or more targeted? Or vice versa: would a bigger scholarship have filled the seats you couldn鈥檛 fill in an undersold programme?

There is no way of knowing without data, because there are no comparison points or analytics. And so, the answers to whether your ROI was as strong as it could have been will always be at least slightly vague.

For many institutions faced with a less certain marketplace, answers to questions like these would be extremely important to know:

• How do we increase demand/revenue for certain programmes? For example, in Canada, business courses are no longer linked to the Post-Graduation Work Program (PGWP). Study fields that are linked are agriculture and agri-food, healthcare, STEM, skilled trades, and transportation. Educators are trying to find out how to price programmes in those fields given that they are now the only ones tied to the PGWP. Would demand fall if the price went up? Which programme features could be emphasised to keep demand high (e.g., internships, on-campus housing, the ability to study at home for the first two years, etc.)?

• If demand appears to be low, could it increase if we decreased tuition fees? How much of a price cut would make a difference?

• Which programme/campus features are game-changers for prospective students? The answer would help inform marketing messaging and future investments in different services.

• And for all these questions: how do the answers differ by international student market and segment?

At the , attendees learned more about the benefits of optimising price, features, demand, and revenue in target markets.

Oliver Fortescue, a partner in the education consultancy firm , presented about the firm鈥檚 capability to determine the relationship between demand and pricing, and between demand and programme features, in key overseas markets. The model allows institutions to see how students鈥� 鈥渨illingness to pay鈥� changes according to different scenarios.

Mr Fortescue used a travel industry example to illustrate that most people will trade off certain features of a journey to arrive at a fare they are comfortable with 鈥� e.g., departure and arrival times, number of connections, allowed baggage, or carrier. If a traveller must arrive at their destination as quickly as possible, they might be willing to pay more. If they have more flexibility, they might be more likely to choose a less optimal departure time for a lower fare.

Prospective international students also make trade-offs when deciding where to study. They consider such variables as campus location, cost of living, ease of transportation, length of course, graduate outcomes, rankings, and scholarships.

The Edified team works with institutions to determine their top goals (usually regarding revenue, demand, yield, or all three) and then designs a project accordingly. A partner company secures a custom survey sample of ideal students/parents in key markets (at least 1,000 per market, often more). A choice modelling framework determines how students would respond to different scenarios (e.g., this tuition fee with this course length, this tuition fee with this course length plus a scholarship, this tuition fee/course length/scholarship plus on-campus housing).

Among other results, the model can show the exact points at which demand begins to increase or decrease depending on the scenario. The following slide shows that demand for arts programmes is the most sensitive to a tuition fee increase or decrease of all the programmes in this illustrative choice set.

Institutions can also discover how willing students would be to pay for different features. For example, in the slide below, you can see that a 12-week internship is the most valuable of the possible durations, and that Southeast Asian postgraduate students would be willing to pay significantly more if they were able to study in Melbourne.

This kind of research is not inexpensive, but it adds much greater certainty to recruitment decisions, eliminating the likelihood of costly mistakes such as offering:

• A large scholarship where a smaller, more targeted one would have been just as effective;
• A campaign aimed at a city where there is no intrinsic demand;
• A programme priced so high that it is impossible to sell;
• Additional campus services or a facility expansion that students don鈥檛 care about.

Mark Pettitt, founder and CEO of Edified, observes that a more challenging recruiting context can also be viewed as an opportunity:

鈥淚’ve been in this industry for a long time, and the policy environment we are seeing now in some destinations is just another example of a crisis鈥搑ecovery pattern that has played out for years and that will continue to play out. There will always be changes in government policies, global viruses, geo-political tensions, currencies bottoming out, etc. 鈥� followed by a new normal once the crisis has passed. A devotion to students鈥� well-being and career outcomes; personalised, timely communications with prospective students; strong leadership with a long-term perspective; and an investment in data-informed decision-making will allow some institutions to survive 鈥� and even thrive 鈥� where others cannot.鈥�

Mr Pettitt adds that data can help to maintain a diversification effort even when visa refusal rates are going up:

鈥淎n example of short-term thinking is, 鈥業 need to cut back in the risky markets because there鈥檚 less chance of students being approved 鈥� and everyone else is doing that as well.鈥� What a shame if you have been developing those markets for years 鈥� and what a shame for the bright students in those countries who would be perfect for your institution.

What you could do instead is use targeted scholarships to top students from highly reputable schools in the markets everyone else seems to be leaving. Over time, your mix of students can shift dramatically 鈥� to high-quality, low-risk students from a range of target countries. Well-considered scholarship programmes can align with diversity goals and boost your competitive position in some of the most promising markets for years to come. Especially during periods when competitors are dropping out of these markets.鈥�

TREND #2

PERSONALISING COMMUNICATIONS

As with understanding demand, precision is key when it comes to communicating with prospective international students. Generic emails are just not going to cut it anymore 鈥� students are used to personalisation in their shopping, and they expect it from the schools and universities they are checking out.

A well-configured customer relationship management system (CRM) offers a foundation for the ability to personalise. On the CRM, you can enter information on leads, segment them, and track every contact and result. The information in your CRM enables the creation of custom emails based on individual students鈥� programme preferences and that skip past general content.

Website data analytics allow you to personalise further. As per :

鈥淐reate landing pages tailored to different segments of your audience. These pages should highlight the most relevant information to the visitor, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion. For instance, a landing page for international students could feature visa information, housing options, and success stories from other international students.

Implement dynamic content on your website that changes based on the visitor鈥檚 profile. A prospective student from a particular region might see testimonials from alumni in their area, while another visitor might see information on scholarships they鈥檙e eligible for.鈥�

The Amazon.com main storefront offers a masterclass in personalising content. For example, data-informed recommendations such as 鈥淏ased on your browsing history,鈥� 鈥淥ther items you might like,鈥� 鈥淚nspired by your shopping trends 鈥︹��. Amazon is explicit in personalising content 鈥� but effective personalisation can simply consist of creating and sending custom content to each of your leads

TREND #3

ON-THE-GROUND REPRESENTATION

Data can show you that in a certain week (or even day), students in target markets:

• Lost interest in one destination and began to consider another;
• Warmed up to a programme they hadn鈥檛 considered before;
• Finally accepted an offer of admission because a scholarship was offered;
• Spent a great deal of time on the accommodation section of your website;
• And all sort of other essential insights.

However, data insights do not replace human insights. A student鈥檚 ultimate decision about where to study may be decided by such things as:

• An agent who sits down face-to-face with parents and dispels the myth that no one is being approved for visas;
• A returning student who sets up a successful start-up company, signalling to the local market that their study at a particular institution paid off;
• An alumnus who speaks with local school leaders about pathway programme options that will guarantee admission to an institution with high admission standards;
• An in-country representative who sets up a fancy event with great food and successful alumni speakers, and shares video testimonials of happy current students.

Partnering with trusted agents and in-country reps is even more essential when travel budgets are tight and when an institution is trying to keep diversifying despite cost-cutting measures.

Prediction: More sophisticated recruitment strategies in 2025

In times like these, institutions will either lean into or back away from investments in international student recruiting. If the former, the obvious approach is to become more surgical in recruiting, in order to zone in on ideal students who have a good chance of being approved for a visa. Enrolling best-fit students begins a chain reaction of greater student satisfaction, better graduate outcomes, and positive word-of-mouth about your institution.

For additional background, please see:

• “International education has a data problem. It鈥檚 time to do something about it“
• “The way forward: Shifting to more strategic and student-centred recruitment“

The post Three international education trends for 2025: Revenue optimisation, marketing personalisation, and on-the-ground local intelligence appeared first on 黑料官网 Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Viewing all of that through a student lens, we have to acknowledge as a sector that in tandem with the recent surge in international student mobility, there has been an increase in reports of students having had a negative experience of study abroad. Those reports are grounded in a variety of issues, including shortages of affordable student housing, mental health concerns, poor integration into local communities, difficulty accessing support services, poor programme delivery, and sub-par graduation and career outcomes for some students.

Those reports have led to growing calls for better regulation of the sector, and they have prompted a wave of new policy settings brought forth by several national governments. New settings include enrolment caps in a number of countries 鈥� notably the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia 鈥� and a variety of new restrictions and requirements for visiting students.

Parallel to that pattern of tightened rules around international students has been a call for increased regulation of education agents. It is well established that agents play a critical role in student recruitment, and in providing invaluable support for students, parents, and institutional partners. But the education agent space is largely unregulated, operates at a considerable scale (with an estimated 22,000+ agencies worldwide), and offers few barriers for new entrants, especially in an era of aggregated agent networks and remote work.

Partly because the agent space is so large, varied, and lacking serious barriers to entry or to the expansion of agent networks, it has also been highly resistant to regulation. In practical terms, a given national government has little influence over an agency abroad that can quickly rebrand or restructure, or just as quickly shift its recruiting activity from one sector to another or from one country to another.

For all those reasons, there is a broad consensus that self-regulation 鈥� that is, measures that come from the industry itself 鈥� represents the best path forward for creating and implementing effective quality assurance measures for education agents.

The building blocks

Resistant to regulation as the agent space may be, there has, in fact, been a lot of great work done to strengthen standards of practice for education agents, and to advance the professional qualifications of agency-based student counsellors.

This work has largely occurred in three key areas: codes of conduct, agent training, and agency accreditation. There are a swirl of terms in this space, including 鈥渃ertification,鈥� 鈥渁ccreditation,鈥� and more. Codes of conduct, agent training, and agency training are sometimes conflated with one another, but it鈥檚 important to specify exactly what is being referred to. Each of these three components is quite distinct from 鈥� but highly complementary to 鈥� the others, and an effective self-regulation regime will combine all three.

Standards of practice

A number of codes of conduct and best practice guidelines are in place today, both pertaining to agent conduct and to the professional practices of institutions engaged with agents. Examples include the London Statement (formally, The Statement of Principles for the Ethical Recruitment of International Students by Education Agents and Consultants); the National Association for College Admission Counselling’s (NACAC) Guide to International Student Recruitment Agencies; the British Universities’ International Liaison Association’s (BUILA) National Code of Ethical Practice for UK Education Agents; the Australian Agent Code of Ethics (ACE); the Association of International Enrollment Management’s (AIRC) Best Practice Guidelines for Institutional Members; the Association of Language Travel Organisations’ (ALTO) Best Practice Guidelines for Education Providers and Agents; and the 黑料官网 Code of Conduct for the Ethical Recruitment of International Students.

Some codes of conduct are more oriented to one or more education sectors or to a given destination. If we were to put them side by side, however, we would find that they almost universally advance a common set of core principles, including transparency, accountability, integrity, fair dealing, and a commitment to high standards of student service on the part of education agents and also their institutional partners.

Any effort to strengthen quality standards for education agents 鈥� that is, any serious effort of self-regulation 鈥� rests in part on a clearly framed code of conduct, the standard of practice that it reflects, and a global mechanism for enforcing those standards.

An expanding field of training options

Put yourself in the shoes of a student counsellor working in an education agency. She may have studied abroad herself, or, through fam tours or other visits, have gained a firsthand experience of one or more destination countries. Alongside her knowledge of a study destination, its student visa programmes, and other relevant regulations, she also has to be an expert in any number of institutions and schools, their respective policies, and the many programmes and services they provide.

By any reckoning, that is a tremendous base of knowledge for any counsellor to establish and maintain, especially given that those programme offerings, policies, and other key points of information are changing all the time.

That explains the high demand for training among agency-based counsellors, both on best practices in recruitment and student services as well as training on advising students to study in one country or another, and of course ongoing training on individual institutions or schools.

It explains as well why many institutions invest heavily in counsellor training in support of their agent-partners, and why there is an expanding emphasis on agent training across the international education sector.

Agent training, for example, is embedded in the UK’s (AQF), a package of measures that includes specialised training courses for agency-based counsellors advising on study in the United Kingdom. And there are other specialised platforms, including , which provides a hosted solution that institutions and schools can use to deliver training for agent counsellors, and , which provides a growing portfolio of destination-focused courses along with other professional development options and qualifications for counsellors.

Within the AQF, the was developed and is administered by the British Council, and it is also delivered in partnership with 黑料官网 Academy. To date, 23,000 counsellors have registered for the course and nearly 10,000 have completed it and also endorsed the AQF’s code of conduct. “Until recently, the AQF was a voluntary framework where UK universities pledged to meet the standards set to evidence their good conduct,” says Jacqui Jenkins, the Global Lead for International Student Mobility at the British Council. “To the best of my knowledge almost all UK providers pledged to the AQF by the time the government made it mandatory [in spring 2024]. Independently, agents have also made public statements about their support of the AQF. Since the pledge was launched the number of agents registered for the [UK course] has increased from 8,000 in December 2023 to more than 26,000 in June 2024.”

Agent training is similarly embedded in the quality assurance standards in Australia, where agent-counsellors referring students to Australian institutions can complete the (EATC) in order to earn a Qualified Education Agent Counsellor (QEAC) designation. The EATC is a long-established course, now delivered by 黑料官网 Academy, with more than 13,000 graduates. “The EATC is a perfect example of how training can become part of an industry standard,” says 黑料官网 Academy Director Stacey Crosskill. “It provides counsellors with a strong foundation for effective student advising, and it allows individual institutions and schools to concentrate their own training efforts on their respective programmes and services.”

Alongside the British Council course for the UK and the EATC for Australia, 黑料官网 Academy provides specialised courses for counsellors advising students on study in Canada, the United States, France, Ireland, and, as of this week, New Zealand. All told, those courses have registered more than 127,000 learners and conferred professional qualifications to more than 19,000 agents in 130 countries who have successfully completed the course requirements.

Aside from the huge demand for training on the part of agency-based counsellors, perhaps the biggest takeaway from this review is that training courses can form an important part of a larger quality assurance mechanism, especially where they are explicitly incorporated into national or international models for quality assurance.

Validating and vetting the agency

If codes of conduct set a threshold of professional standards for both agencies and individual counsellors, and training advances the qualifications and professional development of agency-based counsellors, the last piece of the self-regulatory puzzle would appear to be verifying the bona fides, good practices, and compliance of the agency itself. This is where agency accreditation comes in.

There are lots of different mechanisms in the marketplace to screen or check agency qualifications. These especially include the requirements of the 14 national agency associations that comprise the supranational agent body (Federation of Education and Language Consultant Associations). They also include the vetting that occurs within the agent networks maintained by pathway providers, such as or . Similarly, event organisers, such as or , pre-screen agents that join their networking events. And of course many institutions or schools will conduct their own vetting of agent partners.

Against that varied backdrop, there are only two fully articulated agency accreditation programmes globally. One is administered by the (AIRC), and the other is the (IAS) programme. (Please note that in the United States, where AIRC is based, the term 鈥渃ertification鈥� is more commonly used than is 鈥渁ccreditation.鈥�)

AIRC has been certifying agencies since 2009. Its process is extensive, encompassing five broad areas of agency operation and a combined that agent-applicants must satisfy in order to earn the AIRC Certification seal. To date, 163 agencies have been certified and 107 are active-certified members. The process typically takes nine months, sometimes more or less. Agencies are initially accredited for a five-year term and, pending a successful reassessment in year five, may be renewed for subsequent ten-year terms.

Reflecting on the role of such accreditations, AIRC’s Director of Operations and Certification Jennifer Wright says, “They are designed to provide a full vetting of the agency company and recruiting operations and can be wholly accepted as a qualification for institutions to partner with an agency, or they may complement an individual institution’s agency vetting efforts. I’ve had institutions send staff to our reviewer training at AIRC with no intention of working on agency reviews for us. But they are going to use those skills in their own due diligence work in evaluating new agencies or agency performance, and the AIRC certification gives them a running start on their own engagement with the agency.”

Meanwhile, the IAS, says Tony Lee, 黑料官网’s Chief Vision Officer, has become the de facto global standard for agency quality assurance and represents the “the highest common denominator of good agency practice in all of the major study destinations.”

The programme reached an important milestone earlier this year with the accreditation of its 2,200th agency across 127 countries. Another 1,000 agencies are currently in the midst of a comprehensive vetting process that includes reference checks, operational audits, and extensive document verification.

Agencies are reassessed annually, and agent compliance with accreditation requirements, including the 黑料官网 Code of Conduct, is overseen by 黑料官网’s global agent team, which currently numbers more than 30 staff across 16 countries.

“In order to be a true standard for the industry, any accreditation scheme needs to be credible, accessible by a wide variety of agencies, and administered by a market-neutral organisation with global reach and expertise,” adds Tony Lee. “These are the core ingredients of IAS, and it’s why we are seeing such rapid adoption of this accreditation model by agents and industry stakeholders alike.”

For additional background, please see:

• Join the (12 September 2025, London). A landmark one-day summit bringing together the industry’s senior leaders, policy makers, and experts, all focused on shaping the future of the international education sector.
• “黑料官网 announces new agent code of conduct“
• “Australia expands regulatory oversight of education agents and announces new integrity measures for VET“
• “Global agent survey finds a strong growth outlook for 2024; provides new insights on agency operations“

The post Who decides about quality? Education agents and the question of increased regulation appeared first on 黑料官网 Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

The recommendations were developed over the past two years by a working group with input provided by the AIRC membership, government agencies, and sister associations, including EnglishUSA and The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS).

“As a destination for education, the United States finds itself today in a diminished position due to increasing competition from nations with more favourable student mobility policies and practices,” begins an introductory statement to the new recommendations. That introduction calls for a wider and more contemporary understanding of international student mobility, pointing out that, “International students today may choose from a wide array of non-credit and credit-bearing experiences and combine multiple experiences to advance their academic and career goals in a personalised way that works well for them. Students are looking for accessibility, value, relevance, and flexibility in their educational avenues, including in application processes, admissions, enrolment, course selection, learning modality, credit articulation, transfer, and study abroad.”

With that context in place, AIRC offers two primary recommendations:

1. Promote the many and diverse US educational entry points to expand access to international student mobility.
2. Facilitate connections between entry points to support international student mobility.

The recommendations statement makes the case that those entry points span all education sectors 鈥� K 鈥� 12, community colleges, and higher education 鈥� but also include a wide variety of additional learning experiences, including intensive English programmes, pathway programmes, vocational training, short-term study abroad and exchange programmes, volunteer, work and cultural programmes, and online learning. AIRC points out, however, that these options are not widely understood among key stakeholders, including student advisors, and that the pathways between them need to be strengthened.

The core concept behind the recommendations is essentially that the United States should recognise that broad range of touchpoints for US education, actively promote them, and look for ways to smooth student movement from one programme option to the next.

There are several more specific actions attached to the two recommendations, including:

• Identify and promote model practices that demonstrate the benefits of a wide variety of educational entry points.
• Train those who advise and counsel students about the diversity of educational entry points.
• Promote multiple entry points to students, their families, and stakeholders so that they are aware of the robust educational choices students have.
• Advocate for improving the processing of student and exchange visitor visas to make entry to and transition between educational opportunities as seamless as possible.
• Highlight models of articulation that link entry points into educational pathways to serve as examples for institutions and students to emulate.
• Support greater portability of international students鈥� educational credentials and transfer opportunities by adopting the principles of the UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region.
• Develop course articulation databases and assessment practices that include the use of life skills equivalencies and non-standardized aptitude tests.

AIRC Executive Director Brian Whalen said that, 鈥淭hese recommendations offer a distinctive perspective stemming from AIRC鈥檚 wide reach into all areas of international student enrolment. [They] articulate AIRC鈥檚 vision for how international enrolment in the US can grow to benefit students, institutions, and our society and culture.”

Noting that the recommendations are meant to be a complement and a support to the ongoing national conversation around international education in the United States, he adds that, “[These] recommendations will influence the broader conversations on US international education policies and the development of a national strategy.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Despite rising rejection rates, US student visa issuances now exceed pre-COVID levels“
• “Are US colleges ready for the projected enrolment cliff?“
• “AIRC releases best practices guidance for US institutions“

The post AIRC calls for a more integrated approach to international student recruitment appeared first on 黑料官网 Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

Within that larger context of rapid expansion, there are now a number of initiatives underway to reinforce and strengthen policies, programmes, and supports for international students in Canada. The latest example of which comes in the form of .

Colleges Ontario is the peak body representing the province’s 24 public colleges. Twenty three of the member colleges have signed on to a new Standards of Practice document that was published on 14 March 2023.

Under those standards, each signatory college commits to:

• Ensuring that marketing to international students is accurate and transparent;
• Requiring that international agents representing their college have completed a sector-endorsed agent training programme;
• Managing its relationships with international education agents and other partners in the marketing and admissions process to support honest business practices that are in the best interests of international students;
• Ensuring that information on services, supports, and facilities are readily available to students, both before and after arrival; and
• Providing targeted assistance to help international students adjust to life and study in Canada.

鈥淓very qualified student deserves to get an excellent post-secondary education,鈥� said Linda Franklin, the president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. 鈥淭hese new standards will help ensure international students can succeed in their programmes.鈥�

The new standards framework for Colleges Ontario builds on similar initiatives for other key destinations, including , New Zealand’s , Australia’s , Australia’s , and the American Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education’s .

The introduction to the Colleges Ontario standards outlines that, “This document builds on the ongoing strengthening of programmes and supports for all students by establishing a common set of minimum standards for international student activity. The standards build on existing practices and the legislative and policy framework and quality assurance mechanisms that guide all college activities鈥he goal of these standards is to support the well-being of international learners to enhance their opportunities for academic and personal success.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Canada鈥檚 foreign enrolment grew by more than 30% in 2022“
• “Canada extends expiring post-graduate work permits for thousands of international students“
• “Canada moving to boost pathways to permanent residency for international students“

The post Canada: Ontario colleges adopt new standards for programmes and supports for international students appeared first on 黑料官网 Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.

There are five standards in total comprised in the document, and they are presented through a series of questions designed to engage readers with the material. The five areas covered are:

• Mission and goals (including how defining purpose and goals, strong leadership, and committing to collaboration contribute to good practices of international enrolment management).
• Institutional effectiveness (including questions to guide planning and management so that institutions can realise their international enrolment goals).
• Marketing and recruitment (including questions about how 鈥減romotional activities can adhere to compliance requirements including honesty and transparency, diversity, equity, and inclusion, accountability for third-party relationships and appropriate consent for use of images鈥�).
• Admissions and enrolment (including an emphasis on admissions practices 鈥渂ased on academic performance and English proficiency鈥� and on transparency in communications with students around 鈥渉ow admissions decisions are made, including, but not limited to, document translation and credit evaluation processes”).
• Student wellbeing and services (including questions about how institutions can ensure they have a 鈥渟ustained and comprehensive support system for students鈥� wellbeing’鈥�).

The head of the working group that developed the standards, Jeet Joshee, associate vice president and senior international officer at California State University Long Beach, said: 鈥淭he standards not only focus on student recruitment strategies, but also address the broad issues of global diversity and inclusion.鈥�

AIRC President Sophia Iliakis-Doherty commented that, 鈥淭hese standards are a culmination of years of knowledge and experience from seasoned international education professionals.鈥�

Working with agents

Within the marketing and recruitment section in the document, AIRC includes a number of questions designed to get institutions thinking about how effectively they are working with education agents, including whether they have solid contracts in place and whether they are collaborating with agents on marketing initiatives.

The questions underline how crucial it is for institutions to deliver accurate, comprehensive information and training to agents. Specifically:

鈥�3.4 Relationships with Third Parties, including Educational Agencies and Service Providers

3.4.1 How does the institution provide pertinent information and training on marketing and recruitment efforts to its educational agency partners and other third parties so that prospective students may make informed decisions about institutional choice, thereby ensuring better alignment between students鈥� expectations and their actual experiences?

3.4.2 How does the institution make certain that its legal relationships are reflected in written contracts or agreements with readily understood and up-front disclosure of services and related fees?

3.4.3 How does the institution help to determine that educational agencies, service providers and other third parties comply with their local and U.S. laws and federal regulations?

3.4.4 How does the institution ensure that information provided to prospective students via third parties is current and accurate at all times and throughout each stage of the recruitment process?

3.4.5 How does the institution ensure that educational agencies, service providers and other third parties are duly trained by, and remain current on, the institution they represent, including topics such as admission and scholarship requirements, academic programs, international student support services, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and policies relevant to an international student鈥檚 institutional choice? How does the institution ensure information is clearly articulated regarding available marketing fees, commissions and other methods of compensation, dates and process for invoicing and payment. How does the institution address conflicting data on student enrollment and attribution, financial concerns and partnership disagreement?

3.4.6 How does the institution collaborate closely with its educational agencies, service providers and other third parties, and establish clear procedures for sustainable relationships, including mechanisms for compliance with AIRC guidelines?鈥�

How the standards can be used

The standards join a growing body of guidelines aimed at professionalising international education marketing and enrolment management, including those published by ALTO, , , and .

The expanding scope of these best practices guides testify both to increasing use of agents (and understanding of how effective the channel can be) and to a realisation that institutions are looking for resources to help them use this channel according to the highest standards.

AIRC hopes its standards will be used for in a variety of ways 鈥� including as a resource to guide international enrolment management and international recruitment by marketing executives and also as one that can be used to train new staff and in professional development for existing staff.

Soon, AIRC will be releasing 鈥渁 toolbox of best practices in how to meet the standards that will be available online for all AIRC members.鈥�

For additional background, please see:

• 鈥�ALTO鈥檚 best practices guidelines offer educators and agents a framework for effective partnerships鈥�
• 鈥�Western Australia introduces new incentive scheme for agents鈥�
• 鈥�What role can agents play in diversifying foreign enrolment across a wider range of fields of study鈥�

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