Read the Times Good University Guide 2009

American universities are planning to use recruitment agencies to entice the brightest British students across the Atlantic with generous bursaries.

Admissions tutors in the US are developing new tactics in the global battle to attract students; a move that will benefit the cleverest but will exacerbate competition between American and British universities. In addition to a “brain drain” of the best school-leavers, Britain’s share of the lucrative market in overseas students, who pay substantial fees, could be diminished.

Britain has a 12 per cent share of this market, second only to the US, but American universities are about to start marketing themselves aggressively, with increasing numbers using recruitment agents to bring in students from abroad.

Unlike British institutions, they will be able to use their considerable endowments to offer sizeable grants. The wealth of British universities is dwarfed by the Ivy League institutions: Harvard, Yale and Princeton have endowments totalling more than £42 billion ($75 billion).

Leading American universities received record numbers of applications from British students this year, and the figure is predicted to rise. Yale had its highest number of British applicants, at 260. It has offered places to 17 students, across a range of courses.

Its applications process is “needs-blind”, meaning that admissions officers do not take a student’s ability to pay into account. Those who need financial support receive it: students with a family income of less than £34,000 a year do not have to pay for anything. Even those whose parents earn a joint salary of up to £70,000 are eligible for some support.

Students whose household income is £90,000 or less qualify for financial assistance at Harvard, making it an attractive destination for those trying to avoid tuition fees in Britain.

Rebekah Westphal, Yale’s co-director of international admissions, said: “I visit Britain every year and I have a large number of alumni there who help. We go into different schools each year. There is increased awareness and interest in studying in the US, and schools are better able to help students prepare their applications.”

One research firm said yesterday that increasing numbers of American institutions were using recruitment agents. Will Archer, director of i-graduate, told Times Higher Education: “The US is the largest market for international students and yet it has not had a particularly commercial approach. Now that this has been recognised, there’s real movement from an increasing number of [American] universities to appoint education agents.”

Until now, Britain has been the greatest beneficiary of the use of education recruitment agents, who either travel to or are based in foreign countries. They promote courses or universities by talking to prospective students and their families at schools and education exhibitions. A survey of 880 agents found that they placed 60,000 students on courses in 115 countries in 2006, with Britain the top destination.

Mitch Leventhal, vice-provost for international affairs at the University of Cincinnati, has set up the American International Recruitment Council. He said: “The US is losing out because it is not adopting 21st-century marketing practices. People haven’t been sharing best practice: now we need to bring this out into the open.”

Dr Leventhal acknowledged that British rivals may view the increased competition with trepidation, but added that cross-border education was “a big and growing pie”. Cambridge University announced that it had accepted the highest number of state school pupils in more than 25 years. The proportion of British students from the maintained sector rose to 59 per cent, up from 55 per cent last year, and the highest level since 1981. Geoff Parks, director of admissions for the Cambridge colleges, said: “These figures are very encouraging. The applications would have been made prior to the introduction of our most recent measures aimed at removing potential barriers to applicants.”

Explore Education

• Schools

• GCSE & A Level Results

• Good University Guide

• Sunday Times University Guide

• Student

• Young Times

Times recommends

• Company behind grant delays sacked
• Colleges face funding cut if students don't find jobs
• Children find PC homework excuses