Private colleges ‘will cash in on fees deregulation’

The Abbott government’s plan to deregulate university fees will create a rapid expansion of “cashpoint colleges” aimed at generating profit from education, says a West Australian Labor senator.

Sue Lines said examples in the United States and the UK showed many of private colleges had little interest in the education or welfare of students.

During an upper house debate on 27 November on the bill to introduce the government’s higher education reforms, Lines said some private for-profit colleges in the UK were known as “ATM colleges” because of their push to enrol students eligible for government supported tuition loans.