Together for Transparency

Supporting structured, transparent international student recruitment practices

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Why transparency matters

Trust sits at the centre of international student recruitment. Institutions, agencies and students rely on clear information and consistent expectations when making decisions.

As the sector has expanded globally, the need for structured, comparable information has become more important. Transparency helps institutions understand who they are working with and supports more informed, accountable decisions.

ICEF contributes to this by providing frameworks, screening processes and structured agency information designed to support institutional judgement.

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Why ICEF

For more than 30 years, ICEF has worked closely with institutions and education agencies worldwide, building a detailed, practical understanding of international student recruitment.

This long-term engagement has enabled ICEF to develop structured screening processes, training programmes and agency information frameworks that are used across more than 130 countries.

ICEF works with agencies in more than 130 countries and delivers training to tens of thousands of counsellors worldwide. Combined with a global team and ongoing sector involvement, this provides institutions with a broad, experience-based view of recruitment practices and partner relationships.

Together for Transparency: A shared commitment to higher standards

Together for Transparency reflects ICEF’s ongoing work to support more structured and transparent international student recruitment.

It sits alongside ICEF Agency Status (IAS) and its global network of supporters, and includes selected organisations that share a similar focus on improving clarity and consistency in recruitment practices.

Rather than a formal membership structure, Together for Transparency brings together related initiatives and collaborations across the sector, aimed at supporting more informed partnerships between institutions and agencies.

Explore ICEF Agency Status

ICEF Agency Status (IAS) provides a structured reference point for institutions working with education agencies.

Explore agencies operating across more than 130 countries:

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IAS Supporters

ICEF Agency Status is supported by more than 800 institutions in over 50 countries worldwide.

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TOGETHER FOR TRANSPARENCY Trusted accreditation and certification

At Flywire, we’re committed to helping institutions and their recruitment partners build relationships founded on trust and transparency. By integrating ICEF’s Agency Status into our StudyLink solution, we’re giving institutions the confidence to make informed decisions and supporting agencies...

Mina Fakhouri Flywire SVP, Sales APAC & Global Agents

Mina Fakhouri, Flywire SVP, Sales APAC & Global Agents At Flywire, we’re committed to helping institutions and their recruitment partners build relationships founded on trust and transparency. By integrating ICEF’s Agency Status into our StudyLink solution, we’re giving institutions the confidence to make informed decisions and supporting agencies that uphold the highest ethical standards. Together, we’re creating a more transparent and credible international student recruitment ecosystem.

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We really appreciate the ICEF Agency Status because it's an opportunity for us to know the quality, and have that assurance ahead of time before we meet with the agents. I've benefitted from it personally, in that ICEF has reached out to me and asked me about some of the agents that we work...

Scott Pierson University of Wisconsin - Stout, USA

Scott Pierson, University of Wisconsin - Stout, USA We really appreciate the ICEF Agency Status because it's an opportunity for us to know the quality, and have that assurance ahead of time before we meet with the agents. I've benefitted from it personally, in that ICEF has reached out to me and asked me about some of the agents that we work with. So, I know that it's a very, very solid mechanism, and I've been able to provide quality feedback, and I appreciate the fact that others have already done that before I engage in conversation.

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We've been having the agency status for years. I believe it's recognition. It also gives us a word out there that we are working with institutions that, again, like-minded people. I feel that ICEF is, you know, if I have to describe ICEF, it's having like-minded people in one building. And...

Melanie Milanes The U For You, Panama

Melanie Milanes, The U For You, Panama We've been having the agency status for years. I believe it's recognition. It also gives us a word out there that we are working with institutions that, again, like-minded people. I feel that ICEF is, you know, if I have to describe ICEF, it's having like-minded people in one building. And having this status, it just means that we are for the student and that we understand international recruitment and what's really happening.

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Raising the professional standards is very, very important because you have to be updated, you have to know exactly what is happening in the industry, in the world. You have to receive the new regulation that are changing all the time. You have to share that information obviously with the people...

Jorge Otero Study Union, Colombia

Jorge Otero, Study Union, Colombia Raising the professional standards is very, very important because you have to be updated, you have to know exactly what is happening in the industry, in the world. You have to receive the new regulation that are changing all the time. You have to share that information obviously with the people in different parts of the world that are creating or sharing the ideas with you.

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Having the quality seal from ICEF is very important for us to keep updated about everything that's new in the market - new providers, new services, new schools. It also helps us showing our clients that, you know, we have recognition from providers, our international quality assurance seal....

Alexandre Argenta Travelmate Intercambio, Brazil

Alexandre Argenta, Travelmate Intercambio, Brazil Having the quality seal from ICEF is very important for us to keep updated about everything that's new in the market - new providers, new services, new schools. It also helps us showing our clients that, you know, we have recognition from providers, our international quality assurance seal. So, you know, it's always, an honour and it helps us a lot to make more business all the time. We believe that for us to show to clients in Brazil that we are a trustful company - we've even being there for over 20 years, it's very important to bring together with our brand: international quality sales. So, Brazilian customers, they like to see this and they see this as a company that they can trust more - they can really find quality services, quality providers. So, ICEF, you know, just becomes like a sister brand we carry with us all the time.

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Having an ICEF Agency Status is definitely an important recognition. It's a quality assurance for students, for education providers. It recognises your credibility, your network, your reputation. Specifically, when we are meeting with new partners, new institutions, it's a level of recognition,...

Sinem Kizrak Atlas Private Educational Consulting, Türkiye

Sinem Kizrak, Atlas Private Educational Consulting, Türkiye Having an ICEF Agency Status is definitely an important recognition. It's a quality assurance for students, for education providers. It recognises your credibility, your network, your reputation. Specifically, when we are meeting with new partners, new institutions, it's a level of recognition, level of quality assurance, that they recognise your service quality, your global network, your services that you provide for institutions. So, I believe it helps in making new partnerships, expanding your portfolio.

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Recently as Eduworld, we got our accredited agency status with ICEF, and it has been really wonderful since we got the accreditation. We held a press conference in Tunisia to announce that and it was a huge event for us. Being accredited is definitely a game changer in this industry, because...

Yosr Mansouri Eduworld, Tunisia

Yosr Mansouri, Eduworld, Tunisia Recently as Eduworld, we got our accredited agency status with ICEF, and it has been really wonderful since we got the accreditation. We held a press conference in Tunisia to announce that and it was a huge event for us. Being accredited is definitely a game changer in this industry, because it does not just give you more credibility, when it comes to the students that you are dealing with, but also with establishing global partnerships. We're already seeing the positive impact of being an accredited agency in our work, especially it had made the establishment of new partnerships much easier and we have, it enabled us to reach a wider audience, when it comes to international educators and service providers from all over the world.