The higher education sector has to re-think what the future of higher education looks like and take steps towards this.
Universities Australia chair Deborah Terry’s job description includes openly lobbying government, an approach that has its origins in the sector’s post-war financial crisis.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
A post-war funding crisis forced universities to take the initiative in making their case to the public. A new history explores how universities did it and the changes they brought about.
Now that Dan Tehan has steered the package through the parliament, the government and higher education sector will have to live with the consequences.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Three decades ago, in another time of upheaval in higher education, 7% of working-age Australians had a degree. Today 33% have one. More people than ever have a stake in what happens to universities.
A collapse in revenue and a lack of government support have led to university workforces being decimated to cut costs. This presents a number of longer-term risks for universities and the nation.
Although the government has identified a real problem, its heavy-handed regulation would create unnecessary red tape for universities and exclude students who should get a second chance.
Australia's higher education sector needs significant reform to remove the perverse incentives that have made universities dependent on revenue from international students.
Universities around the world are re-examining how they teach, do research and serve their students.
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Experts predict today's graduates will have several different careers throughout their working life. The government's university changes seem ignorant of this.
Travel bans, a recession and the government's university reform package will leave an estimated $4.7 billion gap in research funding that needs filling to maintain our current output.
The implications of the government's announcement are about more than incentivising the career trajectories of students. They are a direct assault on the premise of universities.
The education minister has outlined reforms to higher education funding aimed at producing 'job ready graduates'. But his announcements don't seem completely in line with the data.
Pupils sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination at a slum school in Nairobi.
EPA-EFE/Daniel Irungu
In order to regain public confidence, universities must take steps to show citizens that investments in higher education are well-spent, an education professor and university professor argue.