Student Recruitment
Responsible Recruitment Begins With Accurate Information
ACISC promotes responsible student recruitment practices that support transparency, institutional integrity and informed student decision-making.
Choosing an educational institution can involve significant academic, professional, personal and financial commitments. Prospective students should therefore receive sufficiently clear and accurate information about the institution, its programs, admission requirements, fees, credentials and accreditation status.
Responsible recruitment is not simply a marketing function. It is part of an institution’s wider responsibility for integrity, student protection and educational quality.
Recruitment Should Support Informed Decisions
Prospective students should be able to understand what an institution offers before making an enrolment decision.
Institutional communications should accurately describe educational provision and avoid creating misleading expectations concerning admission, qualifications, accreditation, recognition, employment or other material matters.
Recruitment processes should therefore connect marketing and admissions with institutional policies, academic provision and verified information.
Inform Before You Enrol
Accurate institutional identity
Clear program information
Transparent admission requirements
Understandable fees
Accurate accreditation claims
Realistic educational expectations
Responsible communication
Eight Principles for Student Recruitment
Institutions can use these principles to examine recruitment, marketing, admissions and enrolment practices.
Accuracy
Provide information that accurately represents the institution and its educational provision.
Transparency
Make material information reasonably accessible before students make significant commitments.
Integrity
Avoid deceptive, exaggerated or materially misleading recruitment representations.
Suitability
Use admission requirements appropriate to the educational provision and intended student population.
Consistency
Ensure recruitment communications correspond with official institutional policies and program information.
Accountability
Maintain appropriate oversight of personnel and third parties involved in student recruitment.
Verification
Ensure important claims, including accreditation information, can be substantiated.
Student Interest
Support prospective students in making informed decisions about whether the institution is appropriate for them.
Prospective Students Need Clear Information
Recruitment information should allow prospective students to understand the institution and the educational opportunity being presented.
Information should be reviewed periodically and updated when material institutional or program circumstances change.
Institutions should also consider whether information remains consistent across websites, brochures, advertisements, social media, admissions communications and third-party recruitment channels.
Information May Include
Institutional identity
Program title and content
Qualification or credential
Program duration
Mode and location of study
Admission requirements
Fees and applicable charges
Student responsibilities
Accreditation status
Relevant institutional policies
Describe Educational Programs Accurately
Program marketing should correspond with the educational provision students will actually receive.
Institutions should avoid representations that materially exaggerate program content, academic level, professional outcomes, facilities, partnerships or other characteristics.
Where a program includes specific delivery arrangements, practical requirements, placements, laboratories, online learning or other significant features, prospective students should receive appropriate information before enrolment.
Check Program Information
Program title
Educational objectives
Curriculum
Qualification level
Delivery format
Duration
Assessment requirements
Practical requirements
Completion requirements
Represent Accreditation Status Correctly
Accreditation information can materially influence a prospective student’s decision.
Institutions should therefore ensure that accreditation claims accurately reflect their current official accreditation status and applicable scope.
An application for accreditation, participation in an accreditation process or completion of training does not by itself establish accredited status.
Where accreditation applies only to a particular institutional scope, the institution should avoid language that could reasonably imply broader accreditation.
Applicant Is Not the Same as Accredited
Application indicates that an institution has entered an applicable process.
Evaluation examines the institution against applicable requirements.
Accreditation follows an applicable formal accreditation decision.
Institutions should distinguish these stages clearly in public communications.
Connect Recruitment With Responsible Admissions
Recruitment generates interest; admissions determines whether prospective students satisfy applicable institutional requirements.
Admission criteria should be appropriate to the program and applied through sufficiently consistent institutional procedures.
Institutions should avoid recruitment practices that create pressure to admit students without appropriate consideration of established requirements or educational suitability.
Admissions Considerations
Published requirements
Academic prerequisites
Language requirements where applicable
Document verification
Recognition of prior learning where applicable
Consistent decision-making
Admissions records
Student communication
Students Should Understand the Financial Commitment
Prospective students should receive sufficiently clear information about tuition and other material charges applicable to their enrolment.
Institutions should avoid presenting only a headline tuition figure where additional mandatory charges materially affect the actual cost of study.
Payment, refund, withdrawal and related financial policies should be communicated appropriately before students make significant financial commitments.
Financial Transparency
Tuition
Mandatory institutional charges
Application charges where applicable
Payment schedules
Deposit requirements
Refund arrangements
Withdrawal implications
Other material costs
Institutions Remain Responsible for Their Representation
Institutions may use agents, representatives, partners or other third parties in student recruitment.
Delegating recruitment activity does not eliminate the institution’s responsibility for how it is represented to prospective students.
Institutions should maintain appropriate arrangements for appointment, authorization, communication, oversight and review of third parties acting on their behalf.
Third-Party Oversight
Defined authorization
Written responsibilities
Accurate institutional information
Appropriate training
Monitoring
Complaint handling
Periodic review
Corrective action where required
Apply the Same Standards Across Digital Channels
Institutional recruitment increasingly takes place through websites, social media, online advertising, messaging platforms and virtual events.
The communication channel does not reduce the institution’s responsibility for accuracy and transparency.
Institutions should monitor digital recruitment materials and consider how short-form advertisements, promotional claims and third-party content relate to the more complete information available through official institutional sources.
Digital Channels
Institutional website
Search advertising
Social media
Email campaigns
Messaging platforms
Virtual events
Recruitment portals
Third-party websites
International Recruitment Requires Additional Clarity
International students may make enrolment decisions without visiting the institution or having direct familiarity with the educational system in which it operates.
Clear institutional information is therefore particularly important in international recruitment.
Institutions should avoid assumptions that prospective students understand local terminology, qualification structures, regulatory arrangements or the distinction between different forms of recognition and accreditation.
Educational Context
Explain qualifications, academic expectations and institutional arrangements sufficiently clearly for international applicants.
Accreditation
Describe accreditation accurately and avoid implying recognition beyond the applicable accreditation status or scope.
Student Responsibilities
Communicate institutional requirements and other material responsibilities relevant to the student’s enrolment.
Avoid Unsupported Outcome Promises
Educational institutions should exercise care when communicating employment, salary, career or professional outcomes.
Where outcome information is presented, institutions should be able to explain the basis for material claims and avoid implying guaranteed results where outcomes depend on factors beyond institutional control.
Programs connected with regulated professions may also involve requirements established by external authorities, employers or professional bodies.
Responsible Claims
Avoid guaranteed employment claims
Avoid unsupported salary promises
Identify relevant data sources
Distinguish education from professional authorization
Explain external requirements where relevant
Keep outcome information current
Monitor Recruitment as Part of Institutional Quality Assurance
Recruitment should be reviewed systematically rather than treated as an activity outside institutional quality assurance.
Define
Establish institutional expectations for recruitment, marketing, admissions and representation.
Communicate
Provide authorized personnel and third parties with accurate institutional information.
Monitor
Review recruitment communications, admissions activity, feedback and relevant concerns.
Improve
Correct inaccurate information and strengthen recruitment practices when issues are identified.
Recruitment Experience Can Provide Quality Evidence
Student enquiries, complaints and feedback can reveal inconsistencies between recruitment representations and actual institutional practice.
Institutions should consider relevant patterns rather than viewing each issue only as an isolated communication problem.
Where recurring concerns identify inaccurate information, unclear expectations or weaknesses in third-party recruitment, findings should inform corrective action.
Review Questions
What was the student told?
Was the information accurate?
Was material information omitted?
Was an authorized source used?
Is the issue recurring?
Does a policy or process need improvement?
Has corrective action been evaluated?
Verify Important Information Before Enrolling
Prospective students should independently review important institutional and program information before making an enrolment or financial commitment.
Where accreditation is important to your educational or professional plans, verify the institution’s current accreditation status rather than relying only on promotional materials.
Students should also consider whether a qualification will meet requirements relevant to their intended employment, further study, professional registration or jurisdiction.
Before You Enrol
Confirm the institution’s identity
Review the program carefully
Understand admission requirements
Review tuition and charges
Read relevant policies
Verify accreditation
Check external professional requirements where relevant
Recruitment, Transparency and Institutional Quality
Verify Accreditation
Check institutional accreditation information before relying on an accreditation claim.
Transparency
Learn about ACISC’s approach to transparency, public information and accreditation integrity.
Accreditation Decisions
Understand the role of formal accreditation decisions and institutional accreditation status.
Guiding Principles
Review broader principles concerning integrity, transparency, students and institutional accountability.
University Guidance
Explore guidance on student experience, governance, academic quality and institutional effectiveness.
Our Services
Explore ACISC accreditation, professional-development and institutional-quality services.
Questions About Accreditation Information?
Contact ACISC if you need clarification concerning an ACISC accreditation claim or information appearing in the applicable ACISC accreditation record.
Questions concerning an institution’s admission process, tuition, program requirements or enrolment arrangements should normally be directed to the institution itself.
United States Office
ACISC
1177 Avenue of the Americas
New York City, NY 10036
USA
Email:
info@acisc.org
Responsible Recruitment Supports Trust in Education
Students should be able to make important educational decisions using information that accurately represents the institution, its programs and its accreditation status.
Responsible student recruitment connects transparent communication with ethical admissions, institutional accountability and the wider quality-assurance system.