Australia tightens rules on colleges for foreigners

SYDNEY, February 23, 2010 (AFP) - Australian colleges catering to foreign students will face more rigorous regulation by year's end as the government weeds out unscrupulous operators, the education minister said Tuesday. Under a bill passed Monday, all colleges and schools providing courses to international students will have to re-register with the government under strengthened criteria by December 31.

"This is intended to reinforce confidence in the quality of the Australian international education sector," Julia Gillard said.

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"While the vast majority of education providers are delivering quality education, unfortunately the sector has been tarnished by the activities of a few," she said in a statement.

Under the new rules, colleges will have to prove that education is their principal purpose and that they are able to deliver courses of a high standard.

Colleges will also be more accountable for the actions of the agents they use to recruit students.

Education is Australia's third-largest export earner -- worth more than 12 billion US dollars annually -- with tens of thousands of students streaming in each year from China and India.

But some of the colleges that have sprung up t