Backing grows for private share of foreign market
The Australian government is giving increasing assistance to private institutions to help them participate in the lucrative market for teaching foreign students.
University of Melbourne vice-chancellor elect, Professor Gwyn Davis, said the government was increasingly expecting the private sector to contribute to the delivery of education services.
'Why pay for new public infrastructure when a for-profit market can soak up still growing demand for places?' he asked.
Entrepreneurs already targeted international students through language colleges, foundation programmes, internet academies and accommodation precincts.
In his first speech to the university community last week before taking up his new post next month, he warned of the impact private institutions were already having on the public education sector: 'Some private colleges have formed partnerships with public universities, technical colleges and schools to offer degrees and even postgraduate qualifications, he said.
'This growth of the private sector has been accelerated by the federal government. In its 2004 budget, it extended not just loan schemes to private providers but also created public university places for institutions that do not meet Australia's protocols for accreditation as a university.'
The institutions include the Seventh Day Adventist Avondale College in New South Wales, a Christian Heritage College in Queensland and Tabor College in South Australia.
Tabor describes itself as 'a multi-denominational charismatic Christian Education Centre that is offering government-accredited courses at tertiary level', he said.
'What happens next? These private institutions can recruit local and international students, offer deferred loans from the Commonwealth and award degrees, yet cannot call themselves a university.
'How long before they push for that final marketing edge? United States experience suggests the word 'university' is the key to full participation in the higher education market.'
Because a degree was essential for many careers, the word 'university' carried status not enjoyed by any synonym, Professor Davis said. This meant there was a strong likelihood that private providers in Australia would press for changes to the protocols.
Professor Davis also had a warning to public universities that were increasingly reliant on foreign student fees - even a modest downturn in the international market would put them in crisis.
'Teaching international students is the simplest and fastest way to raise discretionary cash - but with implications for the definition of a university.'
