Student recruitment process needs overhaul, says agency

Australia’s federal policy advisory agency has warned that the over-reliance of universities on agents to attract fee-paying international students could undermine the national higher education system.

The Productivity Commission, an independent agency that operates within the Treasury, has called for tighter regulations to detect and prevent conflicts of interest between universities, agents and students.

In a report published on 30 April, the agency says that education agents “are generally driven by their own profit motives” because they are paid commissions based on the number of students they recruit.