Maine state universities pay agents to recruit international students

By Nell Gluckman. This September, among the new students attending the University of Maine’s orientation will be two students from China and one each from India, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
That the students are from abroad is not new; the University of Maine had 341 degree-seeking, international students last year. But the way they got here is different. They didn’t come here on their own. They were recruited in their home countries by agents paid on a per-head basis by the public university. The University of Maine System will use the controversial method to bring more foreign students to both Orono and the University of Southern Maine over the next five years. The sensitive nature of the commission-based recruiting is best illustrated by the fact that it can be illegal if done within the U.S. The federal government is currently suing a for-profit education company for fraudulently recruiting students to its colleges. And that company and the company hired by the University of Maine System – called Study Group – are owned by the same parent company. More...