American Colleges Pay Agents to Woo Foreigners, Despite Fraud Risk
There are many universities that are yet to be recognized, and because of that, they have began to hire agents to recruit more diverse students. Although the university's intention was to increase its numbers as well as profit, this method took a completely different toll.
When receiving applicant's official documents, some universities noticed they had been falsified. Some students had actually commented on this situation and confessed to paying the agent money in order to be accepted into the university. This created an enormous issue when it came to actually admitting them.
The actions the universities are taking are very much so related to marketing. Not only does this affect the external environment, it is also illegal. Using false documents is against the law and could even lead to the student's expulsion.
In the eyes of the universities, trying to recruit more people by aiming for people out of the country is a good market strategy. Out of state tuition is much more costly than for those who reside. Essentially, this becomes a win-win situation. Not only does the university profit from having agents to help recruit, they also become a diverse campus.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/american-colleges-pay-agents-to-woo-foreigners-despite-fraud-risk-1443665884?cb=logged0.4197579256724566
I'm all for having international students, but this does pose a problem when the students cannot write/read/communicate in English. They will struggle getting the best education which I'm sure is why they wanted to come in the first place. These agents by doing this are not actually helping the students at all, they are just taking advantage of them and that's very unfortunate. I hope there are some genuinely good agents out there who will help prepare international students for attending college in America, not just get them into it.
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