The door was locked behind Kat Simmonds on Thursday after the Capalaba college, where she registered just two weeks ago, was placed under voluntary administration.
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Ms Simmonds, of Alexandra Hills, was at Keystone College’s Capalaba campus in Redland Bay Road on Thursday when students were asked to go into a room while the staff were in a meeting.
About 10am they were told that voluntary administrators had been appointed for the college, which is registered under the name College of Creative Design and Arts.
They were told to leave the building by 11am when the doors would be locked.
Ms Simmonds had attended her first class only the day before, after signing up for the diploma of business just two weeks ago.
Having completed paperwork for the college, Centrelink and the ATO, Ms Simmonds said she was very unhappy.
“Surely someone from higher-up knew they were in financial stress two weeks ago?
“Lucky for me I haven’t paid any money through VET FEE-HELP as I had a 28-day cooling off period, but countless other students must be in debt and have no accreditation,” she said.
Staff at Keynote College told Ms Simmonds that her course would take between 39 and 52 weeks to complete attending the college two days a week.
The course fee for her diploma was $13,990.
Ms Simmonds wanted to complete the diploma so that she could go to university.
She said she would wait until February 25 to make sure the college has not put through the VET FEE-HELP paperwork.
“Then I will have to find somewhere else to study.”
She will also need to review her Centrelink paperwork and the day care arrangements for her four-year-old son that she changed to accommodate her studies.
Three partners from Hall Chadwick in Brisbane were appointment voluntary administrators for the college on Wednesday, and for Aspire College of Education, Australian Indigenous College, Global Intellectual Holdings. RTO Services Group, Global Intellectual Group, National Training and Development, Compass College and The Design Works College of Design on Tuesday.
The administrators said collectively the colleges were a significant private vocational education provider in Australia with locations throughout the country.
“The voluntary administrators have been advised that the recent major changes imposed on the VET FEE-HELP sector by the Federal Government have resulted in very significant pressure on the colleges’ ability to operate,” they said in a statement.
“The owners of the colleges have advised the administrators’ office that they consider they have exhausted all available means to continue operating and, with great reluctance, have been forced to place the colleges into voluntary administration.”
The administrators said they were assessing the extent to which the colleges could continue to trade and whether students and staff affected by college closures could be transferred.
The Capalaba campus of Keynote College held an official open day on December 4, 2015 and opened about August 2015.
Thousands of students, staff and administrators around Australia are expected to be affected by the collapse of all the colleges.
