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Private colleges: National Audit Office to investigate 'potential' misuse of public funds in higher education

Watchdog follows up claims education profiteers are not good enough despite £42m public cash injection

Britain's spending watchdog said yesterday it will investigate “potential misuse of public funds” in private higher education.

The National Audit Office (NAO) announcement follows allegations that standards in colleges run by profiteers are not good enough and that colleges and students have far too easy access to taxpayers’ money.

In 2010-11 the government pumped £42 million into private colleges. The figure is expected to hit almost £1 billion next year.

The investigation was prompted by the public accounts committee following “alarming growth” in student numbers entering for-profit colleges.

The investigation was welcomed by the University and College Union. General secretary Sally Hunt said union concerns over standards and access to cash were raised repeatedly with ministers.

“We were ignored at every turn by a government that seemed so blinded by the ideology of competition that it refused to heed our warnings and the dire examples from the US,” she said.

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