Students at the failed Sage Institute of Fitness have been told they must pay "outstanding fees" before they can receive certificates that will enable them to continue their suspended studies elsewhere.
Sage announced on Tuesday that it would cease to trade in Sydney and Brisbane – and suspend classes in Melbourne for a week – after administrators failed to find a buyer.
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Sage Institute students' tearful realisation
Melbourne classes have been suspended, and colleges in Brisbane and Sydney shut down after administrators failed to find a buyer.
Sage, which trades as a range of associated training businesses specialising in fitness, aged care, education, massage and child-care among others went into voluntary administration in February.
Administrators Ferrier Hodgson initially intended to restructure the business and sell it and had been in talks with a Melbourne company but in a notice to students on Tuesday, administrator George Georges said that plan would not be going ahead.
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"Unfortunately, we have not received a Deed of Company Agreement [sic] proposal to allow the Group to continue to provide courses across Australia," the notice said.
"Therefore, the Administrators regret to advise that the Group has ceased to trade in Sydney and Brisbane, effective as at 7 March 2017."
Students in Sydney and Brisbane have been told they "may still be liable" to pay for the portion of the course they have completed, despite the college shutting down.
In Melbourne, students with incomplete qualifications were told that they could obtain certifications which they could take elsewhere "subject to the finalisation of outstanding fees".
Students in Melbourne were called into an emergency meeting at the Institute's Collins Street headquarters, where they were handed a statement from administrators and told all their classes had been cancelled for seven days.
The administrators are still hopeful that there might be a solution for Melbourne, saying in the notice that they were "still exploring opportunities with regard to Victorian students".
Students, some crying, filled the hallways of the Collins Street building on Wednesday after being told of the cancellation of their classes, trying to piece together what had gone wrong – and what they should do next.
Elaine Angelidis, who is studying a certificate IV in aged care and has already paid more than $5000, has been calling other training organisations to try to transfer her incomplete qualification.
"We've done all this work. Most likely if we get transferred to another registered training organisation they won't accept it. I've rung five places, they teach differently.
"They let go their compliance team so anyone who has not put in their stuff to be marked, it may not be marked, and if it's not not marked we cannot use it to transfer."
Sarah Carroll, bottom right, and other childcare students, have been left in limbo. Photo: Jason South
Students who enrolled in the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care are furious they were kept in the dark about the college's financial turmoil when they signed up to the course.
They started their course on February 15 – one week after administrators were appointed to the collapsing college.
Childcare student Sarah Carroll said she signed up to an "interest-free loan" of $7000, which she planned to pay over a year, on top of $500 upfront for books and a uniform.
She does not know if she will be reimbursed.
Another student on the course, Carly, was due to finish her 120-hour placement on Friday.
Next week, she is due to hand in a large folio of her work in preparation for graduation.
But now the student, who is on a VET FEE-HELP loan, does not know if she will get credit for her hard work.
"That's the worst part ... we don't actually know what we are supposed to do right now."
Anh Pham, an international student from Vietnam, who had also been set to graduate from the childcare course shortly, said studying in Australia was her dream.
"It is disappointing, I was doing my placement too and now I don't know what I'm going to do."
The pain has also extended to the Institute's teachers.
Ms Angelidis said her trainer told her she hadn't been paid in 11 weeks.
The Institute announced on Tuesday it had made about 100 staff redundant.
She said she had received no communication from Sage about what was happening but had instead followed her college's downward spiral in the media.
With Georgina Mitchell
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