Warnings from America as New College Swindon embraces for-profit university degrees

UCU said today that it had significant concerns about for-profit education providers, following news that degrees, awarded by the private provider, BPP University College, will be taught at New College Swindon from September.
 
The union said that the Swindon venture was not the first such partnership with a private provider, but warned others considering something similar to heed the warnings from America. The US Senate is now investigating for-profit education providers after a string of scandals in the States and UCU warned that the UK needed greater regulation - something America was belatedly seeking.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'UCU has significant concerns about for-profit education providers. The Swindon venture is not the first partnership with a for-profit provider, but it does mark a new stage in opening this Pandora's box.
 
'We only need to look at the States to see the that for-profit higher education is fraught with danger for students and taxpayers alike and, at the very least, needs to be heavily regulated. Unusually, America is now looking for greater regulation following scandals in the for-profit sector. The answer to a lack of university places is not risky partnerships like this, but regulated expansion of publicly-funded education delivered by established providers.'