In an effort to curb unethical international recruitment, the State Department recently issued new policy guidance restricting the use of commercial agents to attract foreign students.
Prior to this guidance for EducationUSA, the State Department’s advising center for international students, American universities partnered with agents — or third-party recruiters — for international recruitment.
The new guidelines prevent EducationUSA Centers from collaborating with agents for “ethical” reasons, including the unequal representation of certain colleges to international students interested in studying in the United States.
The agents, a State Department official said, work on a commission basis and do not have foreign students’ “best interests in mind.”
Often times, according to the State Department official, these students are not qualified to attend such schools and end up dropping out.
However, according to Admissions Dean Eric Furda, Penn does not associate with such agents, nor do any other Ivy League schools.
“Anyone that recruits for us is either an alumni volunteer or our paid admissions staff,” Furda said. “There are no intermediaries.”
He added that even though Penn does not use these third-party recruiters, the Admissions Office is still contacted by commercial agents on a regular basis.
“We are quite often approached by third parties saying we are going to be your gateways to students in China,” he said.
