If you are considering working with any overseas agents to help you recruit international students for your program, it is advisable to develop a screening process that will help ensure that your program is represented by reliable, ethical, and qualified organizations and that your partnership has the best chances for yielding the results you are seeking.
As with any partnership, it's important to learn as much about your potential partner beforehand. At the very least, an agent screening process should include obtaining the following:
1) Website address - This should be the easiest piece of information to request from the prospective agency. The quality of design and information provided on the agent's website should provide a good indication of the quality of their services and the level of investment they have made to make the overseas study process a straightforward and transparent one to the students. Since the quality of the agent's website will also be a reflection on your institution, you have to like their website in order to feel confident in associating with them.
2) Copy of the agent's business license - Most countries require overseas study advisors/ agents to obtain a business license for conducting such business. Find out what the licensing requirements are in the countries in which you are seeking agency partnerships and ask potential agents to send you a current copy of theirs. The licensed agents should be happy and proud to do so and offer no excuses why they can't.
3) Company profile - Every established, well-organized agency has a company profile in English that they are eager to share with potential overseas partner schools. At minimum, the company profile should state their history, business scope and values, membership in professional associations, financial and human capital, school placement successes, and goals. If not indicated in the company profile, request information on the breakdown of their successful school placements by country and program type to get a sense of their recruiting potential for the program(s) offered by your school.
4) School references - Don't offer any agreement or sign any other alliance documents until you have received and confirmed positive references from at least three (3) institutions similar to yours that they have successfully recruited students for within the last 12 months. Agencies that are unable or hesitant to provide at least three positive references may indicate several things, including a lack of history or experience in recruiting students for your type of program, a lack of institutions who have positive things to say about them or the students they have recruited.
This the MINIMUM information that you should obtain and review before offering any agreement to any overseas agency you hope to represent your institution. Depending on your program, you may wish to include other criteria to screen potential overseas agents. If your agreement will include any kind of upfront financial investment, an in-person visit to the agency's main offices or recruiting centers is STRONGLY recommended in order to get a first-hand view of their operations and recruiting activities and also meet the people who will be directly involved in promoting and recruiting students for your institution.
American Education Partners (AEP), a U.S.-owned and operated school placement service for international students, entails a rigorous agent screening process that includes these steps and others. Our U.S. staff provide an additional layer of advising support and applicant screening before submittting completed application packets to partner schools. This provides partner schools with the benefits of working with a wide diversity of carefully-screened overseas agents without the time and work required to screen and manage all of them. If your institution is considering working with overseas advisors/ agents, consider working with AEP first. For information on AEP programs and services, go to: http://www.americanedpartners.com/ and click on "Information for Schools". To find out more about becoming an AEP Partner School, email us at: info@americanedpartners.com
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