Hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations have flowed from private training colleges to political parties in the past financial year, according to Australian Electoral Commission records. 
The largest donor appeared to be Careers Australia, which has come under considerable scrutiny in recent months because of low graduation rates.
Careers Australia, led by Patrick McKendry who last year resigned from the federal government's vocational education advisory board, donated $33,700 to the Liberal Party and made payments of $14,750 to Labor. Other big donors included Top Education, which gave the Liberal Party $44,275 and Labor $2000 for the year ending   June.
The only university to disclose a payment was the Australian Catholic University, which gave Labor $2500, while Universities Australia gave Labor a payment of $11,500. An ACU spokeswoman said the donation was not political: "ACU provided a room for a function. The fee was waived."UA chief Belinda Robinson said its payments were related to attendance at a business briefing and the observer program of the ALP National Conference. "It is UA policy that where we are invited to attend (such) programs for either party and someone is available to attend, we try to do so," she said.