Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF

Beyond student recruiting: agents’ roles as counsellors

How do international student recruiters prepare young people for their studies overseas? As parent and student expectations continue to increase, the role of student recruitment agencies has changed and evolved beyond the admissions process to include additional services surrounding the visa and travel process, as well as the counselling process. Today we sit down with Director & CEO Pushpinder Bhatia of PAC Asia Services, an agency based in New Delhi, India that helps foreign students throughout the various stages in their international education attainment. Mr Bhatia shares best practices and techniques that have led his agency to achieve a high visa success rate, such as documentation and background checks and profiling of students. His agency also focuses heavily on pre-departure briefings, including mock visa interviews and tips regarding how to adjust culturally, socially and academically. Traveling and living in a foreign country is not always easy even for the most seasoned of pros, and for students who are shy or coming from rural areas, it can be an overwhelming experience. Mr Bhatia shares a personal anecdote of one such student, showcasing how agents today operate not just as recruiters, but also as trusted counsellors.

Access to education

The second half of our interview turns the focus on India's access to education. Predictions abound as to the future of India, such as:

  • By 2020, China and India combined will produce 40% of global graduates.
  • By 2030, the number of college-age Indians is estimated to reach 400 million.
  • By 2050, India's population will swell to 1.6 billion people; it is on track to overtake China in 2028.

With a growing youth population and an under-supply of university places to satisfy demand, India is on a mission to redress the discrepancy between its economic potential and its education system. A number of reforms are underway, foreign branch campuses are now allowed to operate there, the vocational sector is getting a boost, and funding has been earmarked to improve the quality and standards of education. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are also active locally, and Mr Bhatia discusses the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on both individuals and communities in India, and shares one such example with us regarding his work with Round Table India. For more information on the Indian market, we recommend our recent article on the current and potential effects of the rupee's fall on Indian students' intentions to study abroad, as well as the international education market as a whole.

Most Recent

  • US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 Read More
  • How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training Read More
  • Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 The Institute of International Education’s (IIE) twice-yearly snapshot surveys are always required reading for international educators. That is...
Read more
How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training This article was originally published in the ICEF Academy Knowledge Hub and is reproduced here with permission. International...
Read more
Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees In a 3 July 2025 letter to the Dutch parliament, Education Minister Eppo Bruins explained that the government...
Read more
New Zealand announces strong foreign enrolment growth along with a new international education strategy Following a post-pandemic surge in 2023, Education New Zealand (ENZ) announced this week that the country’s international student...
Read more
The surging demand for skills training in a rapidly changing global economy With more than 175 million users, Coursera is the largest online learning platform in the world. It currently...
Read more
US issues corrected student visa data showing growth for 2024 while current trends point to an enrolment decline for 2025/26 In April 2025, we reported that foreign enrolments in the US had declined by -11% between March 2024...
Read more
Survey finds US institutions expanding agency engagement and focusing on new student markets AIRC (The Association of International Enrollment Management) and BONARD have just released a second edition of the State...
Read more
Canada’s language sector buffeted by policy changes in 2024 Amid reports of mounting job losses and programme cuts across Canadian education, the country’s language education providers are...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links