Private colleges are offering discounts to rush students into a diploma the federal government is cancelling over concerns it is being “misused by shonks”.
The government announced in early September it would deregister the graduate diploma of management (learning) which it suspected was being used by “non-genuine” students to remain in Australia. The course is taught by close to 450 institutions, has over 15,000 students studying currently and more than 40,000 students registered for future enrolment following completion of a different vocational course.
Ads posted to social media and shared among agents and students in recent days encouraged students to join the course or expedite their start date before cancellation on 5 October. Any students already enrolled and studying by that date are allowed to complete it.
Some immigration education agents have offered promotions for the month of September, including in WhatsApp messages and texts, encouraging students to join the course or those who have a future enrolment to study now. Several ads promote discounted course fees or a free certificate of enrolment to join immediately.
One private college has sent immigration agents a promotion offering “attractive” commissions with same-day offer letters and confirmation of enrolment for students, with two “special intakes” on 21 September and 2 October – just three days before the course is cancelled.
Phil Honeywood, the chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), supported the decision to cancel the course and said it could put some private providers trying to loophole the system into financial trouble.
“The government for all the right reasons moved to stop non-genuine international students from using this course to stay in the country,” Honeywood said.
“High-quality providers will always have a place in the international education ecosystem … they would rather have these factory-type private providers out of the system for all the right reasons.”
Some education migration providers are encouraging the more than 40,000 international students with a future enrolment to start the course now before it is cancelled. Some of those students would need to do so, or choose a different course such as a bachelor’s or master’s with a high qualification level to maintain their visa conditions. That could mean completing two courses at the same time.
Students who have “packaged” a lower-level vocational course with the graduate diploma to be completed after, will need to enrol into a higher-level course to maintain their visa requirements.
One student who spoke to Guardian Australia on the condition of anonymity said they had initially come to Australia to study a bachelor’s degree but unenrolled after one semester on the advice of a migration agent to do a VET course in carpentry, followed by the graduate diploma in management. The graduate diploma and the VET course would fulfil the qualification level required to maintain a valid international student visa.
They said they were being told to commence the graduate diploma now.
“I talked to the agent, and they told me the new rules. They want me to study concurrently, [so] I can study both courses at the same time. I don’t know if I can take this much study load,” the international student said.
They said other friends doing the same course pathway were also given the same advice, and were also stressed by the potential workload.
A migration agent, who asked not to be named, said they had heard of other agents and institutions pushing students to expedite their enrolment, but they warned the government would view this suspiciously. They said they were concerned that this behaviour would damage the reputation and credibility of the rest of the sector.
They also said private institutions might look at setting up other courses such as the graduate diploma of strategic leadership that just over 34 colleges currently teach or the graduate diploma of portfolio management that is taught by just a few, that have the same visa requirement level.
Julian Hill, the assistant minister responsible for cancelling the course, said the department and education regulator would be “closely watching student and provider behaviour”.
“Students and providers are on notice that curious patterns of early commencement or new enrolments will be investigated and action taken against those doing the wrong thing,” Hill told Guardian Australia.
At the time of the announcement in September that the course would be deregistered, Hill said in a statement: “The Coalition left behind a shocking mess in 2022, with unsustainably high growth in student numbers in the least reputable parts of the sector, and our high-quality student visa being degraded into a low-rent illegal work visa and misused by shonks.”
Melanie McFarlane, New South Wales president of the Migration Institute of Australia, said some education agents were helping their students into master’s courses to maintain their visas.
“Those students needing to find an alternate course, they’re being placed by, I would say, reputable agents, into a master’s degree within the same institution where that graduate diploma was otherwise available,” she said.
“But then you’ve got the other side where there are migration agents who are potentially going out of business because of all the changes to the industry … and might be rushing students into that course in the time that they can.”
It is part of a wider crackdown by the government to curb visa-hopping and overstayers in Australia.
The government has now banned international students from starting one qualification and then transferring to a lower-value qualification which would allow them to remain in the country and work more hours instead of studying. This would help prevent a student enrolled in a bachelor’s degree from downgrading to a vocational course.
Hill said the government had also banned commissions for agents transferring students between courses in Australia.
“This has helped but the quantum and pattern of transfers remains concerning, so from next year international students looking to change providers will have to apply for [a] new visa.”
