VICTORIA—Despite changes announced today by Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell, the Campbell Liberals have left B.C.’s private college students unprotected and vulnerable to fraud, New Democrat critic Rob Fleming said today.

“Last November, Minister Coell promised to introduce legislation to protect students that were misled and left penniless by unscrupulous private college operators,” said Fleming, MLA for Victoria-Hillside. “For years, students of Lansbridge University, Kingston College and others have raised their concerns about bogus degrees, demanding change. But the Minister has ignored their concerns, leaving B.C. students vulnerable.

“Today’s announcement contains voluntary half-measures that do nothing to protect students who have spent thousands on what turns out to be a bogus degree,” said Fleming “And it does nothing to address the absence of student protection in B.C.’s private post-secondary system, as expressed by the governments of India, China and Korea on behalf of overseas students.”

Fleming added that Coell failed to address other serious concerns, such as conflicts of interest of private college operators who sit on the private post-secondary’s self-regulating board.

“B.C. Liberal insider Michael Lo continued to sit on the board while his own college was being investigated for ripping off students,” said Fleming. “It’s another example of the lack of oversight under the Campbell government’s failed deregulation experiment.

“The NDP introduced a Private Members’ Bill in the spring that offered real protection for students and would go a long way to restore credibility and integrity to B.C.’s private college system. If the Campbell government was serious about protecting students, they would adopt this legislation today,” said Fleming.