International Recruitment Diversification Playbook

For universities around the world, international student recruitment serves as a critical source of tuition revenue, helping to fill in domestic funding gaps. But rising acquisition costs are steadily eroding margins. Chief among these pressures are escalating agent commission rates, with UK institutions reporting rates increasing from around 15 percent to over 30 percent in some cases. There is also a growing expectation that universities provide larger scholarship awards, and increasing agent aggregation and regulation is adding resourcing and compliance costs.

Agents will continue to play an essential role in global recruitment, offering in-country expertise, language support, and direct access to prospective students. However, heavy reliance on agent-only models exposes institutions to financial, regulatory, and reputational risk—especially as agent markets become more competitive and harder to monitor.

Drawing on global examples and market insight, this playbook helps university leaders reassess their full recruitment channel mix, strengthen channels beyond agents, and build a more sustainable, resilient approach to international enrolment growth. Download the full playbook or learn more about each section and corresponding diversification tactics below.