We take no commission from any university. That is why we can publish this.

Every figure sourced · nothing you type is stored

How much does your consultant earn from your admission?

Many study-abroad consultants offer free counselling. Often, the university pays for it: a commission when you enrol, usually a share of your first-year fees. Here is what that can add up to.

1. Where is the university?

£

Pre-filled with an example. Replace it with the fee on your programme's own page.

If your consultant has an agreement with this university, it may pay them

₹3.2 lakh to ₹9.5 lakh

£2,500 to £7,500: 10% to 30% of the student's first-year fees, paid to the agent as a finder's fee.

Source: The Big Issue, "Education agents: inside the murky and 'unchecked' £500m industry" (2023-09-20). A UK taught master's is usually one year, so "first-year fees" is normally the whole tuition. Rupee figures at ₹127.14 per GBP.

What has actually been paid

What this is (and isn't): published ranges and reported payments, applied to a fee you enter. It is not what any particular consultant earns: rates are negotiated privately and vary by university, agent and market, and some consultants charge students a fee instead of, or as well as, taking commission. We do not name or rate consultants. Figures researched 2026-09-24.

Send this to someone choosing a consultant

The problem isn't the payment. It's the list.

A consultant being paid by a university is not a scandal; it is how a large part of international recruitment works. The quieter problem is what never gets said. A university with no agent agreement pays nothing, so nobody is paid to mention it. Most German public universities charge no tuition, so there is little or nothing to pay a commission from. Both can be excellent choices and still be missing from a shortlist.

So the useful test is not "is my consultant paid?" but "would this list look different if nobody was?" Two free ways to check: paste your list into the Shortlist Check for a verdict on every school, or run the free assessment for programmes matched to your marks, budget and goals by a site that is paid by nobody but students.

Five questions to ask your consultant

  1. 1Do you receive a commission or any other payment from the universities you are recommending to me?
  2. 2Which universities on my list pay you, and which do not?
  3. 3Did you leave any university off my list because you have no agreement with it?
  4. 4Do you also charge me a fee? What does it cover?
  5. 5Can you give me these answers in writing?

A good consultant will answer all five without hesitating. More on this in what to ask an MS consultant.

Where every number comes from

Spotted a newer or better source? Email hello@truthpathms.com and we will update the page and log the change on the changelog.

Questions students actually ask

Do study-abroad consultants get commission from universities?

Many do. Universities in the UK, US, Canada and Australia sign agreements with education agents and pay them a commission, usually a share of the student's first-year tuition, when a student they referred enrols. Not every consultant works this way: some charge the student a fee instead, some do both. The only way to know about yours is to ask.

How much commission do UK universities pay agents?

Reported rates run from 10% to 30% of first-year fees (The Big Issue, 2023). Freedom of Information figures show what that means per student: about £3,529 at Exeter and £2,819 at Durham in 2021-22, and £8,235 at Greenwich in 2022-23. Sources are linked on this page.

Is it legal for universities to pay agents?

Paying agents to recruit international students is a normal, openly acknowledged practice in the UK, Canada and Australia. In the US, federal law bars commissions for recruiting American students, while the admissions profession's association has allowed commissioned agents for recruiting outside the US since 2013. Legal does not mean neutral: a commission is a reason to recommend one university over another.

Does a commission make my consultant's advice wrong?

Not automatically. The risk is quieter: universities that pay nothing have nobody pushing them, so they may never appear on your list. Ask which universities on your list pay your consultant, and compare the list with an independent one.

Does TruthPathMS take commission?

No. TruthPathMS receives nothing from universities, agents, consultants or lenders. Students are the only source of revenue. The full breakdown is on the independence page.

What should you check next?

Knowing who pays whom changes which questions matter.

  1. 1

    Does your list hold up without anyone being paid for it?

    Paste the list you were given and get a verdict on every school, no profile needed. check your shortlist.

  2. 2

    Which programmes actually pay back fastest?

    Fully sourced programmes ranked by how long the degree takes to pay back, with the method shown. the MS Payback Index.

  3. 3

    Who pays TruthPathMS?

    Students only. No university, agent, consultant or lender pays us anything. our funding, in full.