UNC system to discuss the use of paid recruiting agents for international admissions

Universities paying international recruiting agents on a per- student commission have fueled a national ethical debate.

And the UNC system will be joining the discussion.

In July, the National Association for College Admission Counseling announced the creation of a committee to examine ethical standards in international recruitment because it opposes the use of incentive-based compensation in recruitment.

While the national association has taken a stance on per-head commissions, it has not taken a stance on international recruiting agencies in general.

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The council includes delegates from all 17 institutions and works to improve the international agenda across the system.

“Each school has a different way of looking at the idea of using agents,” Pynes said.

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Bonnie Derr, international programs coordinator for the UNC system, said she thinks most schools in the system don’t want to use agents.

Derr said there’s not a system-wide policy for using international recruitment agencies, but administrators will continue to discuss the topic.

“There’s too much bad information about agents out there, but that’s not to say they’ll never use them,” she said.

Wright said recruiting agencies use a variety of business models other than per-student commissions, including charging universities a flat rate for their services or making students pay up front.

“For the parties that feel like what we do is wrong, we would like to just invite them to understand the process more clearly because we have a very rigorous (accreditation) process we put the agencies through,” Wright said.

Ashley Memory, senior assistant director of UNC-CH’s Admissions Office, said she thinks the University does not use third-party recruitment agencies.

International students make up about 2 percent of the incoming nonresident freshmen class. The number of applications from international students increased by 190 submissions or about 13 percent in 2011.

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