This morning the government revealed the details of the higher education reform package it is taking to parliament. As anticipated, the legislation closely mirrors the announcement on budget night. There…
Christopher Pyne’s education “reforms” have been wildly unpopular, and he hasn’t been very successful in winning people over. Why?
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No. And with that, Clive Palmer indicated that the populist Palmer United Party (PUP) would not support the federal government’s proposed deregulation of the tertiary education system. At least in its…
Lie back and think of your debt.
Owen Humphreys/PA Wire
The funding of higher education is a mess, and it is getting messier. New proposals on the table to allow universities to take on the debt burden of their own students could have profoundly worrying consequences…
Charging a higher real interest rate on HECS would hit the most disadvantaged the hardest.
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An important issue for Australian university funding concerns the rate of interest applied to Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt. For the last 25 years the debts have been adjusted to inflation…
It has been predicted middle-tier universities will “wither on the vine” in the wake of fee deregulation, but they have a unique opportunity to bloom and thrive if they go about it the right way.
Flickr/Austin DeArmond
The “future of universities” has been the subject of much speculation in recent years. Online learning, declining government support, global competition between universities and the rise of universities…
Vice-Chancellor of the ANU Ian Young told the Press Club Senators should support fee deregulation, but not interest on HECS.
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ANU Vice-Chancellor Ian Young has urged the Senate to pass fee deregulation, proposed in May’s budget, but stopped short of supporting the government’s plans to impose an interest rate on HECS. In a speech…
Regional universities need to be able to compete on more than just price.
Flickr/Sumanjay
At one level, it is heartening that there is so much attention placed on regional universities in all the heat of debate surrounding the deregulation of higher education. We have ministerial assurances…
American universities are higher in the rankings than Australia could dream of, but the way to get there isn’t through price competition. That’s not how America got there.
Flickr/Ryan Kelly
US universities consistently top the Times Higher Education and Shanghai Rankings of the world’s universities. In the 2013-2014 Times Rankings, seven of the top ten and 21 of the top 30 global universities…
Australia seeks to emulate the US system of higher education, while the US seeks to move away from a system that isn’t working for all.
Flickr/McBeth
The US system of higher education, while lauded as a model to be emulated by the Australian government, is facing harsh criticism on home soil. With up to US$1 trillion in student debt owed to the government…
Are the government’s changes to higher education opening up the door to complete privatisation, and other radical measures?
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The changes to higher education in last month’s budget are controversial, to say the least, and to my mind not very well thought out. They’ve been justified as attempts to boost the rankings of Australian…
Universities used to get 90% of their funding from the federal government. Now some get as little as 20%.
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When the Whitlam government assumed responsibility from the states for all higher education funding in 1974, the Commonwealth provided 90% of universities’ income. By 2010 this had fallen to about 42…
Are new equity scholarships expected to increase access, or are they just a fig leaf to garner support for a harsh education budget?
Flickr/Thomas Hawk
Alongside higher fees and real interest rates on student debts, this year’s federal budget announced 20% of universities’ additional revenue will go towards equity scholarships. But will this measure increase…
Are Christopher Pyne’s assertions that students contribute 40% of their tuition and make 75% more money than non-graduates correct?
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Education Minister Christopher Pyne said during parliament question time: We are asking students to make a contribution to their own tuition fees. We are asking them to contribute, for those who enrol…
A student protester portrays Christopher Pyne as the grim reaper. Will changes to higher education kill equality?
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The federal education minister, Christopher Pyne, says his changes to higher education including fee increases and deregulation of the sector will be fairer, since those who benefit from higher education…
The National Commission of Audit recommended sector consultations before imposing fee deregulation, which the government ignored. Now they’ve decided it was probably a good idea.
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The government has contacted university Vice-Chancellors across the country asking for their advice on the implementation of fee deregulation, after initially ignoring the Commission of Audit’s recommendation…
Education Minister Christopher Pyne wants Australia to have universities comparable to Harvard, but at what cost?
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Proposed changes in the budget to higher education fees and loans have sparked widespread protests by students. They argue the university sector without a cap on fees, as the budget proposes, will become…
The UK’s universities such as Oxbridge are world leaders, but will they follow Australia on fees?
Flickr/Zimt Vogel
Australia’s decision to uncap university fees, announced in the budget last week, will for the first time expose Australian universities to unfettered market forces. It’s a decision that takes Australia’s…
Will post-graduate students be able to afford to conduct research?
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The announcement in last week’s Federal budget that fees will apply to postgraduate research for the first time has so far flown under the radar. But the effects will be significant. Coupled with the effect…
Has Education Minister Christopher Pyne destroyed the equity of Australia’s higher education system?
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In Hinduism Lord Brahma is the creator, Lord Vishnu is the preserver, and Lord Shiva is the destroyer and transformer. Here are rich models for contemporary leaders, whether they were raised in the Hindu…
A student protester confronts a grim reaper with the face of Education Minister Christopher Pyne…has the budget killed your prospect of a debt-free future?
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Education minister Christopher Pyne has released new public subsidy rates for domestic students in degrees offered by universities, to take effect from 2016. As a budget saving the government aims to lower…