The long-simmering debate over the ethics of paying overseas student recruiters is threatening to boil over.

American colleges could be forced to choose between contracting with international-recruitment agents, who supporters say are a critical conduit for students in an increasingly crowded global education market, and maintaining their standing in the primary U.S. membership organization for admissions officials. That group, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, released a proposed policy statement last month, which, if approved by its members, would expressly forbid colleges from using commission-based agents to recruit domestically or internationally. Colleges that do could be subject to sanctions. At the annual meeting here this week of Nafsa: Association of International Educators, the admissions group’s potential policy change is being received uneasily by college officials and overseas counselors alike. Hundreds of conferencegoers packed a Tuesday afternoon session on overseas recruiting. The proposed policy would not ban the use of all private-sector recruiters abroad. Rather, it would prohibit American colleges from paying overseas agents on a per-student basis. That practice already is illegal in the United States, and the change would bring domestic and international policy in line. Interesting how the traditional are so quick to comment negatively on the recruiting practices of the for profits in the US while they pay fees for international students.