Note to Colleges: An Unethical Practice Domestically is No Less Wrong Internationally
by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA
Not a single day goes by when I don’t hear from some overseas “agent” offering to ‘represent’ us abroad. On a weekly basis I hear from someone wishing to join the Independent Educational Consultants Association from Asia, Europe or the Middle East who indicate that they are educational consultants but operate “differently.”
That difference makes all the difference.
In almost every case, those claiming to be such atypical consultants are in fact “agents.” They are paid by colleges on a per-head basis for each international student they can feed into the school’s admission funnel. They may tell a parent that they are helping to find a “good match” but in fact that match is limited to the two, three or ten colleges with whom the agent has a contract and they only suggest colleges who pay them a finder’s fee. That is not consulting. Consultants work independently of colleges and make suggestions based solely on the best interest of the student. In fact, accepting a fee from a school, college, camp, or program is grounds for dismissal from IECA. That is how serious a violation of parental trust we consider this.
Frankly, most colleges must agree. I don’t know of any colleges that would pay such a fee for a student referred domestically. Indeed such a scheme would constitute an ethical violation of most any association or organization in the field. Yet many colleges actively engage in this farce across the globe. Many will say they only do so because operating internationally is tougher, that economic realities require such outreach. I remind my colleagues that ethical behavior shines brightest when it is applied to difficult situations, not the easy ones. Do schools really want to communicate to students that ethical lapses are okay, if you have empty beds, or really, really want something badly enough?
Luckily, an increasing number of colleges are rejecting “agents” just as IECA rejects them from membership. Despite our hard line, our international membership has doubled in the last two years and we continue to expand to new countries. What makes this growth all the more exciting is that we can say internationally what we’ve said domestically for over 30 years: that IECA members take no money from schools and programs and their only obligation is to advise families based on the needs of the student.
I look forward to the day when colleges, too, can make the same ethical claims domestically and internationally.
Related posts:
- We Must Do a Better Job Ensuring Colleges Understand WHAT Educational Consultants DO and How Many Kids We Work With
- Stanford Daily Asks the Right Question…But Gets the Answer All Wrong
- “Getting Kids Into” Ivy League Colleges: Absolutely NOT the Job of an Independent Educational Consultant
- Colleges: Engage With IECA at NACAC to Diversify Your Campus
- Nearly 100 Presenters will Examine Hot Topics in College Admission, Boarding Schools, Special Purpose Programs & Independent Educational Consulting
THANK YOU for writing this. I work internationally, and receive offers several times a week to be an agent of one kind or another for various institutions. I reject them all. I work in a part of the world where people expect that there must be some sort of favorable arrangement, so a big part of my work with parents is in educating them about ethical consulting. I also tell them that when hiring an ethical educational consultant they must be sure to look for the consultant’s membership in IECA.
There has been passionate discussion on this topic in the recruiting and marketing forums at NAFSA (the Association of International Educators). With decreasing travel budgets and increased pressure to recruit students from abroad, US Colleges are increasingly considering this practice. The pressure also comes from US Colleges’ fiercest competitors. Australia and the UK and have been using agents in international recruitment as regular practice for years. Australearn, for example is at just about every college and study abroad fair in the USA and abroad, representing a large number of Australian universities. It is widely considered a legitimate and well respected agency.
As IECA’s international membership grows, I am reassured that ethical standards will remain strong and our commitment to the student primary. As an organization, we do need to watch the evolving trends. It will be useful to for us to follow the NAFSA discussion, and to learn from their longstanding experience as an international professional organization.