How the Alberta government is tightening the leash on career colleges
CBC
The Alberta government has sanctioned more than 20 private career colleges as part of its increased scrutiny of the institutions.
Along with suspending the licences of two colleges to run select courses, Advanced Education has stopped 15 career colleges from enrolling new students in a total of 64 programs to train for jobs such as medical office assistant, massage therapist, emergency medical responder and digital marketing.
Students attending four career colleges are no longer eligible to apply for student loans after audits found problems at the institutions.
A new public database has been created in response to a rise in complaints about private colleges. The registry, which lists hundreds of programs offered by 214 private institutions across Alberta, indicates whether a program licence is active or suspended, or if enrolment is currently halted.
The database is searchable by location, college name and program name, and lists the cost of tuition, books and supplies for each program.
"You've got people out there who are trying to bamboozle the public, whether they're seniors or newcomers or international students," Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney said in an interview. "Right now, the registry is step one."
CBC News contacted three of the colleges currently under scrutiny by the government. Two didn't respond to messages, and the third would not provide an interview.
Sawhney said she hopes increased enforcement has a "chilling effect" on any organization that uses aggressive and manipulative recruitment tactics to enrol students in expensive programs — and borrow thousands of dollars — that may not be helpful to advance their careers.
She said career colleges are a critical part of the post-secondary education system, but the questionable practices of bad actors couldn't continue.
Sawhney's moves come after the number of Alberta students relying on provincial loans has shot up, sending the province searching for additional loan money.
Last year, Sawhney attributed most of that increase to students attending private career colleges. She asked for investigations into "integrity issues" with some private institutions. In 2024, the ministry doubled the number of full-time career college inspectors to six from three.
There is also now a 10 per cent cap on the increase in the number of students at each institution who can qualify for provincial loans each year.
Citing growth in the number of career colleges and an increase in student complaints and loan applications, Sawhney said the new online registry of private career colleges is designed to help protect potential students from "bad apples."
The number of students enrolled in Alberta career colleges is almost five times larger than it was a decade ago.
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