Some international students are being told they will be slugged hundreds of dollars in fees if they submit late assignments.
Keaton Hulme-Jones said his girlfriend, a Thai national studying at Melbourne's Sacred Heart International College, was told of the penalty during an induction earlier this month.
She had to sign a form acknowledging all fees, including a $300 fee for assignments handed in hours late, he said.
"Clearly they're not caring about the students," he told AAP.
"It's not really a school if you're treating people that way."
Mr Hulme-Jones said his girlfriend's migration agent had recommended the college because fees were lower than other schools, but on reflection it didn't seem the case.
He said the penalty would likely be prohibitive for many international students like his girlfriend, who balance a demanding study workload and a job to support themselves.
"Sometimes you might need extensions for something, especially for international students that have to work in restaurants, that have to work for next to nothing," he said.
"Her school is intrinsically liked to her visa.
"If she quits, she loses her visa.
"Any time your visa's at stake, they've almost got you to ransom."
Sacred Heart International College has been contacted for comment.
According to the national regulator of the vocational education and training sector, the penalty appears to fall within guidelines.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority said registered training providers must give overseas students information before enrolment or assessment begins about any fees payable.
The written agreement between a training provider and students must also include plain English information on any non-tuition fees the student may incur.
However, the authority concedes charging penalty fees for late work is unusual.
"In ASQA's experience, charging fees for late submission of work is not a common practice among registered training organisations, although fees are often charged for re-assessment," it said in a statement.
The authority said if students believe a training provider may be breaching its obligations, for example, by not providing the required fee information, they should complain to ASQA.
