Single protection scheme for students

Universities and TAFEs will have to pay in to Bruce Baird’s one-fits-all assurance scheme. John Ross reports.

Five industry-run tuition assurance schemes (TASs) and the government's ESOS Assurance Fund will be rolled into a single "tuition protection service" (TPS) under recommendations from the Baird review. But public providers are unhappy that they'll have to pay into the new scheme, and the contentious question of who will run it remains unresolved. Under the proposals, providers will still be required to refund students if they close. But if they can't pay refunds - as is usually the case - the TPS will look for alternative placements for the students. Baird recommended the single-scheme...