Universities pay more than $110m in student recruitment commissions

The University of Auckland has spent big on recruiters. (Image: NZME)

Tue, 02 Apr 2024

The nation’s universities have paid more than $110 million in the past five years to agents who recruit international students, a BusinessDesk investigation has found.As revealed by data under the Official Information Act (OIA), all of the nation’s universities have paid $110.4m in commissions to various recruitment agents.The agents' commissions are typically 10-15% of the student’s first-year fees, with new recruiters starting at 8% and earning bonuses for good performance. These fees are substantial. For example, a...

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