Big growth in private college student numbers

Private tertiary colleges around the nation are training more students than ever before, according to a new report. The Deloitte report for the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) found that there are now 1.7 million full-time equivalent (FTE) students at private colleges, which is up from 1.4 million in 2010. Industry training in the health, engineering, hospitality and management sectors are the most popular courses amongst students attending almost 5000 registered training organisations and higher education providers around the country. The chief executive of ACPET, Claire Field, said the report reinforced the growing popularity of tertiary training. “This report confirms that when Australia students and businesses are given a choice about where to invest their dollars for tertiary study, they increasingly choose the private sector,” Field said. She also said the report demonstrates that private providers are leading the national training response to skills shortages in several industries. “Private tertiary providers are delivering more training in skills-shortage industries than ever before, with more than 460,000 FTE students in health industry courses and more than 300,000 FTE students in engineering and related technologies.” Field said she is very pleased that private providers are underpinning the training response to vital industries in Australia.