Cracking down on private colleges?

The woman who answers the phone (in Cantonese) at the America Institute of Technology seems confused when I ask, in English, when classes start. “Who are you?” she asks. I tell her that I’m calling for a friend. “We’re not a school,” she replies. “We’re immigration consultants.” Now I’m surprised. The institute’s website, where I found this phone number, advertises one- and two-year diplomas in computer science and hospitality. Tuition ranges in the thousands. But, she insists, she’s never heard of the American Institute of Technology (AIT). She says her firm Yi-Jia Immigration Consultants Ltd. helps people (often from Hong Kong, she says) immigrate to Canada.

When I call again a week later (these phone calls occurred last year), whoever answers the phone is much less confused. “You want to register for classes?” she asks when I say I’m calling about AIT. She forwards me to another woman who says her name is Adelle, but won’t reveal her last name after I say that I am a journalist. She confirms that AIT catered to international students. She says it was associated with Yi-Jia Immigration but hasn’t offered classes since last year. “Do you realize the website is still advertising classes with the same address and phone number as your firm?” I ask. “That must be a mistake,” she says.

The America Institute of Technology is just one example of a unique Canadian gift to higher education: the barely-regulated private college. Some, like AIT, target overseas students, offering them a chance to get into Canada — but for a price, and often under dubious pretenses. Others promise diplomas and degrees to Canadian students that the school is not legally able to offer. They prey mostly off low-income people who may be unemployed and looking for new opportunities during hard economic times.

In a Toronto Star investigation published in September, undercover reporters enrolled in two unregistered schools; one reporter was promised a job as a security guard at Pearson Airport if he paid $262 for a one-day training course. The job never materialized. Another reporter enrolled in a two-week, $480 course and earned a diploma as a personal health care worker by watching DVD videos and reading Wikipedia handouts.

What’s so bad about these schools? For Canadian students, illegal colleges are taking advantage of people’s desire to better themselves and their economic circumstances by charging high fees in exchange for useless credentials and a disingenuous promise of employment. Schools that cater to foreign students are a whole different ballgame. They are not only duping students but also the federal government (which grants student visas) and the public (who trust that students entering Canada on visas are coming here to study at a legitimate institution).