Riot police have been dispatched to a college campus in eastern China after a protest by students led to an outbreak of looting and vandalism.

The violence at the Clothing Vocational College in Jiangxi province was the second major case of campus unrest in less than six months to be sparked by accusations that profit-orientated education authorities have deceived students about the value of their diplomas.

No domestic news organisation reported on the demonstration. Censors have previously blocked coverage of student protests, which have been considered politically sensitive since the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.

Students said a large crowd, filling almost two-thirds of a football pitch, had staged a demonstration on Monday and demanded to meet the college authorities, prompting clashes with the police.

“There were about 60 riot police. I heard some students attacked them,” a female student who gave only her surname Chen, told the Guardian. “Classes have been suspended since the start of protests. We were supposed to start lessons again today but no one attended. We don’t know what to do. Many people want to quit school.”

Police told Reuters news agency that the students “committed extreme acts such as vandalising and looting”. Students blamed the theft of computers and the smashing of office windows on local hoodlums who had snuck into the campus during the disturbance.

In contrast to the widespread student protests 15 years ago, most recent campus disturbances have been prompted by personal concerns about the value of degrees rather than political idealism. Many undergraduates are disgruntled about the increasing cost of education, the selling of diplomas and the tight job market for graduates.

This week’s riot broke out within hours of the broadcast of a TV documentary that accused the privately run college of massive over-enrolment and deception of students to boost its revenues. According to the TV investigation about 20,000 students have been recruited in the past three years by promising them diplomas the school was not qualified to award.

In June police had to use water cannon to disperse a violent protest by thousands of students in Shengda Economics, Trade and Management College in Henan province. The demonstration was prompted by a government attempt to downgrade the students’ qualifications.

Such problems are increasingly common in the market-orientated education system, were many prestigious state-run institutions have established subsidiary - and often legally murky - private schools to generate more income.

According to the Central Academy of Social Sciences, education, formerly free, is now the biggest expense for the average household. One report by the academy noted that the commercialisation of education had led to “a serious collapse of its public reputation”.

The rapid expansion of higher education has created a glut of graduates. Government figures suggest three out of five university leavers will fail to find a job.