Before paying a private college: how to check its registration
Ask for registration details, then verify them independently through official records. Registration and accreditation require separate attention.
Before paying to study at a private college, check its registration details independently rather than relying only on a number or certificate supplied by the institution.
The Department of Higher Education and Training's Career Development Services guidance distinguishes institutional registration from accreditation. Prospective students should establish both before enrolling for a qualification.
Ask the institution for its legal name, registration number and proof of registration. The guidance says a valid registration or provisional-registration certificate is signed by the department's Director-General and identifies the qualifications the institution may offer.
Then compare the information with the appropriate official register. The department's website links separately to the Register of Private Colleges and the Register of Private Higher Education Institutions. Its guidance warns that obtaining details from the institution alone is not enough.
If the status or qualification is unclear, contact the department on 0800 872 222 before committing. Career Development Services also lists 086 999 0123 for assistance.
This is a guide to verification routes checked on 9 November 2026, not a finding about any named college. No individual institution or qualification was assessed for this report.
Official sources: Career Development Services questions and answers and the department's register links.
Illustrative archive photograph of books on a table, taken on 29 May 2013; not a particular college or its study materials. Photo: Trey Jones / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blank_books_stacked_on_a_table.jpg . Rights: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ . The photographer removed identifying cover text; cropped and resized for display.