Watchdog called in on private college use of student loans

Alternative providers (i.e.- private colleges) have had huge growth over the last 3/4 years at the back of supports from the current government. Perhaps using a well known hypothesis that public sector companies in other industries are in many cases inefficient and do not provide good value for money. I agree with the principle that there should be a level playing field for all types of providers. However, there has to be proper regulatory and monitoring mechanism in place before new players are allowed in to rely on public purse. Department for BIS has taken a number of initiatives including involving HEFCE, HESA and QAA in the designation of courses at the private providers. Things are going in the right direction, we need to give more time for the private sector colleges to settle down and allow them to invest in facilities so that they can compete with public colleges and universities.