Students rated their financial literacy quite low, which means many students who have managed to secure a place at university don’t believe they understand about debt.
The ALP’s national conference, held in Melbourne over the weekend, was Bill Shorten’s first as Labor leader.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
A government office to support teaching has been put out to tender, but will the university that wins the contract be fair in doling out funds and projects?
Cuts to funding in education and research shows a lack of planning for the future.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. But the tinkerings to last year’s education budget still mean a “fail” for education funding.
Despite being rolled twice, the budget is trying again with fee deregulation.
AAP/Julian Smith
The Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann promised on budget eve that the government remains committed to the package of changes to higher education reforms announced by Education Minister Christopher Pyne…
What students should contribute to their degree has been a hot topic of conversation since the government tried to remove caps on fees.
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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?
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The Group of Eight have now withdrawn their support for fee deregulation, despite it already having caused fissures in the higher education system.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.
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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 higher education sector needs more competition to ensure prices stay low. One way to encourage new entrants into the market is to separate funding for teaching and research.
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The higher education sector needs more competition to ensure prices stay low. One way to encourage new entrants into the market is to separate funding for teaching and research.
The government shouldn’t be trying to deregulate one half of the tertiary education sector while re-regulating the other.
Flickr/Stpehen D. Strow
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.
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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.
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While the attempted higher education reforms have been a fiasco, the public has become alerted to the importance of universities and fair access to higher education.
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
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.
The government tried to be egalitarian in arguing for these reforms. The trouble was the 2014 budget left voters feeling the government was anything but.
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Education Minister Christopher Pyne has backed down on his threat to defund NCRIS if the Senate failed to pass the government’s university deregulation bill.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne said he is ‘not prepared to let these reforms be drowned out by distractions’.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
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.