Government tops up compensation fund

The government has committed $5.1 million to top up the ESOS Assurance Fund - just days before the expected release of the Baird review of the ESOS Act, which may recommend wholesale changes to assurance arrangements for overseas students. The government-run fund compensates students of collapsed colleges that can't or won't refund their fees, and who can't be placed in alternative courses by the relevant industry-run tuition assurance scheme (TAS). It is funded by a levy on private providers and managed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. There has been intense speculation about the financial health...