Education Agents as Competitiveness Enhancers of Australian Universities by Internationalisation Facilitation.

Objective: The objective of this article is to explore the role of education agents as drivers of competitiveness of Australian Universities by facilitating internationalisation. Research Design & Methods: The article presents an analysis of semi-structured interviews from two University international officers, an education officer with Victorian Government and an education agent. This set of primary data and a comprehensive literature review served as a stimulus for this investigation. Findings: It is evident that the agents play an extremely vital role in the internationalisation process and the four key themes, which are identified from the interviews are Market Knowledge, Network Facilitators, Financial Interest and Reliance and Trust factor. Implications & Recommendations: The article proposes several key concepts/themes, which could be used to frame future investigations into the role of education agents in the internationalisation of higher education. The higher education providers should not neglect the importance of the knowledge that the education agent may offer for recruiting international students or even to establish an offshore operation. Contribution & Value Added: The originality of this work lies in finding the various themes which are essential to be looked at by the higher education providers in order to further utilise the potential of education agents in the internationalisation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]