Kaplan Higher Education has been re-registered for a maximum of seven years with no conditions as a higher education provider by the regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA).
Brian Knight, Kaplan Professional chief executive, said he was delighted with the outcome, especially at a time when education providers were “rightly under the microscope”.
“The re-registration process is extremely rigorous; we think it is fantastic endorsement of the quality of education and student support we are constantly striving to provide to the market,” Knight said.
“We achieved the same maximum outcome of seven years with no conditions for all qualifications in both our Master of Financial Planning and Master of Applied Finance streams earlier this year, which means we have now been approved from both a program and an organisational perspective.
“There are thousands of advisers currently enrolled in our postgraduate financial planning programs to meet the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) education standards, so this is reassurance for them that they are completing programs that are at the right level.”
Liz Ward, Kaplan Australia quality assurance and governance director, said the result demonstrated Kaplan Professional’s commitment to operating at the highest standards.
“All universities and higher education providers in the country are held to the same benchmark and must go through the same re-registration process,” Ward said.
“It is becoming increasingly rare that a university or a higher education provider is approved for the maximum period of seven years with no conditions.
“We have seen this as a learning experience – every regulatory assessment we go through is an opportunity to continually improve and refine our offerings.”
The scope of the re-registration review included all aspects of the student lifecycle, academic faculty, marketing, and corporate and academic governance.
TEQSA found that Kaplan Professional had demonstrated:
- Ongoing efforts to address quality assurance matters with evidence of improvement;
- A comprehensive approach to student support services and the welfare of students;
- Effective engagement with professional and industry bodies, specifically relating to Kaplan Professional;
- Educational policies and practices that support the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education; and
- A commitment to preventing and responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment.
