Another Company Will Jump Into International-Student Recruiting

Los Angeles — The foreign-student-recruitment market just got a little more crowded as Hobsons, a major education-services company, announced today that it would begin to offer independent recruiting services to American colleges seeking to attract additional overseas students.

Notably, Hobsons’ international-counselor network got the seal of approval from Nafsa: Association of International Educators, which has previously remained on the sidelines of the debate over the use of paid international-recruiting agencies. In an interview during the international-education group’s annual conference here, Marlene Johnson, Nafsa’s president, said that she had “confidence in the quality of Hobsons’ work.”

Hobsons’ announcement followed news that IDP International, Australia’s largest and most successful international-student-recruitment company, would branch out into the American market. Unlike IDP, however, Hobsons is a newcomer to in-country recruiting and lacks a network of overseas recruiting agents.

Jeremy Cooper, managing director of integrated-marketing solutions for Hobsons, said the company would subcontract with “best of breed” agencies in countries that were key markets for American colleges and provide them with extensive training about higher education in the United States.

The use of paid recruiting agents has been controversial in the United States, but Mr. Cooper said Hobsons was responding to demands from the 2,000 American colleges with which it already works, in areas such as enrollment management. “We’re not pushing them,” he said. “They’re pulling us.”

Mr. Cooper said Hobsons’ existing relationships and reputation for quality would help the firm attract clients. The company expects to sign up 200 American colleges over the next five years. —Karin Fischer