For years the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee - and then Universities Australia - warned higher education in Australia was moving inexorably towards a tipping point. Without substantial increases…
In all of the debate about the government’s plans for higher education, what people seem to worry about most is the prospect of ballooning student fees, with predictions of A$100,000 degrees or more. So…
Education Minister Christopher Pyne defied historical orthodoxy last week by declaring Gough Whitlam’s free tertiary education a failure. Free education only helped reinforce the place of the rich, Pyne…
Debate begins this week on the higher education bill introduced to parliament last week. If political bartering can result in some sort of compromise, there is potential for the higher education sector…
The much-awaited higher education reform bill has now been introduced to parliament. If passed, it will result in the most significant changes to the Australian higher education system since the Dawkins…
There’s a devil lurking in the detail of the higher education reform bill presented to parliament. As expected, the bill, introduced yesterday, proposes to open Commonwealth subsidies for undergraduate…
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…
Education Minister Christopher Pyne was appointed at a time of innovation, contention and uncertainty at all levels of schooling and higher education. One year in, his distinctive agenda is becoming clearer…
The Nationals will debate calls for greater help for students at regional universities, changes to the rules governing takeovers and an end to the five cent coin when the party’s federal council meets…
In his National Press Club address, Christopher Pyne argued that higher education deregulation will “transform opportunities for Australians, particularly young Australians to get the quality higher education…
Professor Ian Young, the Chair of the Group of Eight Universities, has argued that fee deregulation will have a positive effect on all universities. The Group of Eight universities will take the opportunity…
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…
One criticism of Australian universities is that they indulge in oversupplying graduates in certain fields such as dentistry and journalism. But whose responsibility is it to set enrolment targets which…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Australian taxpayers currently give universities about $11 billion a year in grants and have taken on $22 billion in outstanding student debts. About one-fifth of the debts will never be repaid on current…
Nobel Laureate and renowned economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz has been packing out lecture theatres in Australia in the past week. During his whirlwind tour, he’s talked about why inequality matters…