Vocational colleges desperate to recruit as many foreign students as they can before caps come in on January 1 are offering vastly discounted fees, 50 per cent cash-back guarantees on $1600 visa application fees and fast-tracked certificates of enrolment, despite government promises to crack down on such practices.

Colleges are also stacking multiple courses into packages to ensure students can stay longer in Australia, shoring up their cash flows, and giving agents commissions of up to 50 per cent or up to $5000 cash incentives.