Liberal higher education policy is obscure; perhaps deliberately so. But the conclusion is clear. Unless students are required to pay significantly more, universities will face major cuts.
The government’s options for higher education reform come with significant trade offs.
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While the government finally ruled out full fee deregulation in its 2016 budget, it is still contemplating uncapping fees for some degree courses. Here’s what else is being discussed.
What is the best HELP repayment option for all graduates?
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Combining a lower repayment scale with a super option would allow for earlier repayment of HELP loans and greater flexibility for graduates to manage living expenses early in their careers.
$4 billion of student loan debt is likely to never be repaid by 2025.
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2013 was the year of Gonski; 2014 the year of higher education reform; 2015 has been the year of … hmmm … wait, what actually happened this year? Just a lot of chat really, with much debate, but little…
A change in minister needs to mean a change in tack with regard to higher education.
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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.
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Labor has released a higher education policy intended to restart a discussion stalled by the failure of the Coalition’s deregulation package to pass the Senate. What is the point of the promised funding guarantee?
Christopher Pyne’s policies in the education portfolio were underpinned by liberal values of the free market, autonomy and education as a private commodity.
Kim Carr says that $100,000 university degrees are ‘totally unnecessary’.
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The opposition’s statement today rules out a number of the current government’s policies. Deregulation, as they’ve said before, but also plans to expand the demand-driven system.
Universities need to be encouraged to collaborate more, not compete more.
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Currently universities collaborate with one another and with other sectors in myriad ways, greater competition through deregulation could discourage such collaborations.
Australia ranks 30th of 31 OECD countries for public investment in higher education.
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International students are more attracted to universities that charge more, so would price equal quality in the eyes of Aussie students if fees were uncapped?