If a consultation is free, someone is still paying for the consultant's time, the office, the salaries and the advertising. Understanding who, and how, tells you more about the advice you are about to receive than any brochure will.
There are two funding models in this market, plus a common hybrid. None of them is inherently dishonest. Each one is good at something and exposed to something. What matters is that you know which one you are dealing with, and that the consultant will tell you when asked.
Model one: paid by the institution
A university that wants international students can market directly, which is expensive and slow in a country the size of India, or it can appoint recruitment partners who send students its way and pay them for each one who enrols.
The payment is normally a percentage of first year tuition. Published sector research generally puts the usual range somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent, varying by country, by institution, and by how badly a particular course needs filling.
What this model is good at. It puts guidance within reach of people who could not or would not pay for it up front, including in smaller cities where there is no other option. It lets universities recruit in markets they cannot reach directly. And a good counsellor inside this model still gives good advice, because most people in this industry got into it to help.
What it is exposed to. The consultant earns when you enrol somewhere, which means the incentive points toward enrolling rather than toward waiting. Institutions the consultant has no arrangement with are less likely to appear on a shortlist, and sometimes the consultant simply does not hold information about them. Where rates differ between courses, the easiest course to sell is not always the best fit.
Regulators have noticed. Several countries now require universities to publish their appointed agents, and codes of conduct such as the UK's Agent Quality Framework and Australia's ESOS framework set out what is expected. Those are readable without a legal background and worth a look.
Model two: paid by you
The other model is a straightforward professional fee. You pay for time and work product, the same way you would pay an accountant.
What this model is good at. The consultant has no financial stake in which institution you pick, or in whether you go at all, so advice to wait a year or to reconsider costs them nothing to give.
What it is exposed to. It costs you money at the worst possible moment, when you are also paying test fees, application fees and saving for tuition. It also prices out exactly the people who most need careful advice. And paying a fee is no guarantee of quality on its own: a bad adviser you paid is still a bad adviser.
The hybrid, which is the most common arrangement of all
A great many consultancies charge a client fee and hold arrangements with institutions. That is not a contradiction and it is not automatically a problem.
The question that matters is not whether both exist. It is whether you were told, and whether the disclosure came before the shortlist rather than after.
What to ask, whoever you are talking to
Six questions. Ask them out loud and write down the answers.
- How are you paid for my case? Fee, institution, both. Ask about payment specifically rather than asking whether they are independent, because everyone says yes to that.
- Do you hold an arrangement with any institution on my shortlist? If the answer is yes, that is useful information, not necessarily a red flag. If the answer is evasive, that is the red flag.
- What is your fee if I do not enrol anywhere? This tells you where the incentive sits.
- What is the total cost of this plan, including everything you do not charge for? Government fees, test fees, application fees, credential evaluation, translation, travel. A consultant who cannot give you a total has not built you a plan.
- What is not included in your fee? Get it in writing, before you pay. Exclusions are where people get hurt, far more often than headline prices.
- What would have to be true for you to tell me not to apply this year? If there is no answer, you will not hear one when it applies to you.
Ask us these too. Our prices are published on the pricing page, every package carries a written exclusions list, and how our pricing works sets out what we charge for and what you pay third parties directly.
The thing nobody tells you to compare
People compare consultant fees. Almost nobody compares total cost.
The consultant's fee, on any model, is usually the smallest line in the budget. Tuition, living costs, proof of funds, government fees, tests, translations and flights dwarf it. A plan that saves you thirty thousand rupees on advice and costs you a wasted application cycle is not a saving.
Compare the total, ask what is excluded, and get the answer in writing.
Sources worth reading yourself
- The British Council and Universities UK have both published guidance on the use of education agents, including expectations around disclosure.
- Australia's ESOS framework and the UK's Agent Quality Framework set out published standards for agent conduct.
- Most universities now publish a list of their appointed representatives. Search your target university's name alongside "appointed agents" or "official representatives" and see who is on it.