After getting a professional degree, most students try to leave the country for developed countries, US, Canada, Australia and UK being the most sought after destinations for further education these days. India sends close to 200,000 students abroad for higher studies each year, the second highest number of students abroad after China. While a few of them earn their i20s from the universities by the virtue of their merit, the rest try desperately to go to any nation without a fixed goal set in mind. Their desperation is the profit of several Universities these days abroad and also the educational consultancies in the nation that has ties with them.

In reality a student who is not highly qualified educationally goes to the consultancies which cash-in his desperation to join any university abroad. The meritorious who are keen to join a good university are also often lured into joining the universities with which the consultancies have ties.
The “headhunters” from the universities often talk to the consultancies asking them for the list of potential candidates that have approached their organizations. They would be paid a handsome commission for each admission (rather recruitment) they make.

The link generally involves an educational who is in direct contact with the student, a marketing professional who is the liaison agent of the universities. Many students have fallen prey to the tertiary consumer in this chain;  Ludhiana and Jalandhar to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, education agents are tapping a growing market borne out of a mutual demand bordering on desperation while the universities seem them as sources of funds.

"We have successfully recruited student Mr. Kanish Doshi for MBA programme," Thakkar, director of Mumbai-based Apex Consultants wrote on November 10, 2011 to Darren Hancott, UCW's chief administrative officer at the time. "Please guide us how do we go about commissions for student recruited." What you have read is a single event that happens with every student and most corrupt educational consultancies.

Blaming the whole race of sheep for one black sheep in the family is not right too. There are few who genuinely help the students achieve their dreams while the ones who care for immediate profit espouse all ethics and morals.

The most reputed universities have no consultancies linked with them but the public universities and other smaller ones have agreements with several agencies in India to shepherd the students to their institutions. The students are also supposed to pay a fee after they get an admission. The fee is often very high for universities with whom they have no links.

12% of the tuition fee is the average commission charged in most consultancies. Several scams have been unearthed. The Tri Valley University has been the talk of the nations in 2010. Herguan University has tried to fool the immigration authorities for the sake of admitting foreigners.
UK is no different with the recent scam of the LMU which was even denied the license for the intake of the students from outside EU. Even after the license was revoked they took the fee from several Indian students thought they didn't get an admission.

Most educational consultancies often don't tell the students about the college, the infrastructural facilities etc clearly. They reach the universities only to be hit in the face by the harsh truth but are left with no option but curse the consultancies and continue in their lives.

It is best if the students can make their own choices after researching the websites on the internet clearly. There would be one or the other in a known university abroad in the particular course of your choice. Talk to them, find out how the infrastructural facilities at the site are and the details of the admissions to the college. Since they have already been admitted they would also tell you the process of submitting the documents properly. They can provide you first hand information on the process directly from the universities. In case you have no contacts, try to get on the internet and spend a few days checking the colleges, their facilities the activities on the campus. Get in touch with the professors either via the email or the phone number they provide on the website.

Make a choice only if you are completely satisfied with the course, the fee, the living conditions, the climate and expenses. Going abroad to study is only an option, do not be desperate to run away from the problems here since the problems in a foreign country would never be any lesser, if not more.

(AW- Anil)