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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy Higher education reporter

Australia’s international education system a ‘Ponzi scheme’ with agents paid bonuses to lure students

University students walking up stairs outside a university
An Australian Senate inquiry has heard that money has sometimes been ‘handed in an envelope under the table’ to unregulated agents for directing students into courses. Photograph: FangXiaNuo/Getty Images

Australia’s international education system has become a “Ponzi scheme” in which overseas agents are paid bonuses to lure foreign students with the promise of full-time work, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, Phil Honeywood, on Tuesday said universities were offering bonuses to education agents on top of commissions to funnel students to their courses.

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