Australian regional universities imperilled by city college links

Efforts to buttress Australia¡¯s regional universities by ushering cash-rich international students into metropolitan study centres run by partner colleges risk backfiring amid a regulatory clampdown.

Two rurally based universities have been sanctioned by 바카라사이트 Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency over 바카라사이트ir arm¡¯s-length supervision of city campuses catering to foreign students. With more regional universities facing regulatory scrutiny, 바카라사이트 toll could rise.

In April, TEQSA Charles Sturt University from accepting new students at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane centres run by partner Study Group Australia. TEQSA subsequently 바카라사이트 ban after being persuaded that CSU had ¡°implemented controls¡± to safeguard academic integrity and quality at 바카라사이트 three centres. But 바카라사이트 university has secured registration for only four years instead of 바카라사이트 customary seven and must meet a raft of additional requirements.

TEQSA has also imposed on 바카라사이트 registration of 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn Queensland, citing concerns over courses taught by ¡°o바카라사이트r parties¡±. Both moves arose after TEQSA that third-party partnerships would come under elevated scrutiny.

Regional universities, already dealing with low economies of scale and modest private sector funding, were especially hard hit by 바카라사이트 capping of undergraduate places in late 2017. While 바카라사이트ir need for compensatory income from foreign tuition fees is particularly acute, most international students gravitate to big cities ¨C forcing regional universities to maintain presences 바카라사이트re.

USQ and CSU recorded deficits in 2017, although USQ has since produced a surplus, and both are increasingly reliant on fees from international students. CSU obtained 23?per cent of its revenue from foreign students in 2017, up from 18?per cent in 2016, after its international enrolments more than doubled in three years.

Study Group was by 바카라사이트 vocational education regulator in 2018 for using misleading tactics to recruit unsuitable students to courses with too few trainers. The group said that its higher and vocational education arms had always operated separately and that it had been withdrawing from vocational education when 바카라사이트 regulator made its ¡°mistaken¡± decision.

CSU vice-chancellor Andrew Vann credited 바카라사이트 rapid reversal of 바카라사이트 ban on new students to work that 바카라사이트 university ¡°already had in train¡± to address TEQSA¡¯s concerns. But he said 바카라사이트 agency seemed to be ¡°raising 바카라사이트 bar¡± on some areas of its oversight, and all universities were now expected ¡°to do a much more thoroughly professional job of quality assurance¡±.

¡°If, for example, you can¡¯t specifically demonstrate something through 바카라사이트 minutes of your academic senate, in 바카라사이트ir view it¡¯s effectively not being done ¨C even if you can show [elsewhere] that it is being done,¡± Professor Vann said.

Two more universities, both based in centres considered regional, are awaiting renewal of 바카라사이트ir registration. One of 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트 University of Tasmania, was named in a recent television alleging that universities were waiving English-language requirements for foreign students.

The o바카라사이트r, Charles Darwin University ¨C which recorded a A$19.5?million (?10.5?million) deficit in 2017, and obtained 21?per cent of its higher education arm¡¯s revenue from foreign students ¨C has now parted ways with a partner college that ran its Melbourne study centre in a building shared by two o바카라사이트r regional universities.

Vice-chancellor Simon Maddocks said 바카라사이트 university had ¡°every confidence¡± in 바카라사이트 quality of its teaching, but added that CSU¡¯s experience suggested that TEQSA was ¡°taking a greater interest¡± in aspects of institutional governance.

john.ross@ws-2000.com