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Articles on Higher Education Bill 2014

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A change in minister needs to mean a change in tack with regard to higher education. Sam Mooy/AAP

Four things the new minister should do on higher education

Higher education policy development should involve learning from the Abbott government’s mistakes and other counties where university reform has been successfully achieved.
Simon Birmingham has announced the deregulation of university fees will be delayed until 2017 at the earliest. Sam Mooy/AAP

Education minister says uni fees won’t change for 2016

New Education Minister Simon Birmingham says the Turnbull government will abandon plans to deregulate university fees in time for 2016.
If Shorten wants to bring back compacts he should learn from the first time. AAP/Lukas Coch

Why does no-one seem to like compacts?

If a future government does decide to resurrect compact-like agreements, they should learn from the first two goes with them.
If universities increase their fees and students can’t pay their loans, should the university be held responsible? from www.shutterstock.com.au

Should universities have to pay back unpaid student debts?

ANU economists argue that Australian universities should have “skin in the game” on Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts.
What students should contribute to their degree has been a hot topic of conversation since the government tried to remove caps on fees. AAP

Should all uni students contribute the same regardless of degree?

Currently law students pay about 80% of their degree cost, and nursing students only about 30%. Is it fairer if everyone pays the same?
Do the Group of Eight universities actually have a cash-flow problem, or are they more concerned about increasing their prestige to attract international students? Flickr/sobriquet.net

Group of Eight’s change of tack smacks of self-interest

The Group of Eight have now withdrawn their support for fee deregulation, despite it already having caused fissures in the higher education system. But what are they worried about? And what sort of conversation do they want to have now?
Harvard has around 20 times the investment of Australia’s top-ranked university. Flickr/Yoshi

Top-ranked universities have more money than Australian unis could dream of

Education Minister Christopher Pyne claimed his plan to deregulate university fees was essential to boosting Australia’s place in the rankings. But no student fee rise will give us close to the level of funds of the top ranked unis.
The government shouldn’t be trying to deregulate one half of the tertiary education sector while re-regulating the other. Flickr/Stpehen D. Strow

More or less regulation? Seeking coherence in tertiary education

Before the government tries a third time to secure support for university fee deregulation, it needs to learn from past mistakes in the tertiary education sector and come up with a plan.
Lack of consultation, lack of information and lack of justification have led to the second failure of Pyne’s higher education bill. AAP

Six steps the government can take to pass deregulation

The voting down of the higher education bill stems from the government’s failure to sell the reforms. Here is a six step guide to successfully making big changes to higher education.
Expansion of the demand driven funding system would be a positive outcome for students, but an expensive one too. AAP

Defeat of higher ed bill should ease budget pressures

In recent years higher education enrolments have surged. This is triggering many policy issues including ballooning student debt.
Despite months of lobbying and an 11th-hour bid at compromise, Christopher Pyne has failed to negotiate the passage of his university reforms through the Senate. AAP/Mick Tsikas

University fee deregulation blocked but Pyne pledges to fight on

The Senate has defeated the government’s plan to deregulate university fees 34 votes to 30, with Labor, the Greens and five of the other eight crossbenchers combining against it.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne said he is ‘not prepared to let these reforms be drowned out by distractions’. AAP/Mick Tsikas

Pyne’s last-ditch compromise fails to sway crossbench

Education Minister Christopher Pyne has announced a last-ditch effort to try to save the government’s plan to deregulate university fees, which faces defeat in the Senate.

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