Increasing fees in popular courses? (1 Viewer)

[Kiraken]

UNSW has joined the Group of Eight (Go8) universities coalition in calling for the government to allow universities to exclusively charge full fees in popular undergraduate courses, as part of an initial move towards wider fee deregulation.

In a submission to the Abbott government’s review of the demand driven funding system for public universities, led by former Liberal education minister David Kemp and economist Andrew Norton, the Go8 universities argued in favour of an opt-out system allowing universities to forego government funding for particular courses in favour of charging full fees.

Under the current demand driven model, the Federal government funds Commonwealth supported places for all domestic undergraduate students accepted into a bachelor degree course at a public university, with the exception of medicine.

In place of this, the Go8 proposal would see full fees charged to students in subjects such as law, accounting, economics and commerce, in which the government currently subsidises 16 per cent of student fees. Such a move would amount to the effective privatisation of these courses, with the Go8 stating that the highest band of student fees could increase by 56 per cent from $9,792 a year to $15,250.

SRC President, Joel Wilson, told Tharunka the Go8 proposal is “disappointing” and will adversely affect students from lower socioeconomic, regional, and rural backgrounds.

“This decreased access to university means that we’ll get less graduates in remote areas, when in fact what rural Australia needs is more graduates and a high skilled workforce,” Wilson said.

The Go8 submission cited the threat to the quality of research programs at Go8 universities following increased student numbers since the previous Labor government uncapped university places for domestic students in an attempt to increase university education to 40 per cent of young Australians.

The number of Commonwealth supported places has risen by over 350,000 students between 2008 and 2013, although Tharunka understands that growth rates at UNSW have remained relatively stable at tops of two to three per cent per year, with the University further instituting a minimum 80 ATAR policy in 2013.

The Go8 submission follows the announcement of an “efficiency dividend” on university funding, which is projected to cut approximately $15 million out of UNSW’s 2014 budget alone, as part of a greater $43 million loss of federal funding over the next four years.

Education Officer on the National Union of Students, Sarah Garnham, said any moves to increase fees will entrench socioeconomic inequality in Australia.

“Student cannot afford higher fees,” Garnham said. “In 1989, when the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) was introduced, students had to pay a flat fee of $5,400. Today, most students graduate with a debt upwards of $20,000. This level of debt prevents working class and poor students from going to university.”

Wilson agreed. “The Group of Eight universities should instead be focusing on opening up university to people from lower socioeconomic groups so that every young adult in Australia has a chance to go to university if they have the ability.”

UNSW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Fred Hilmer, has previously been a vocal advocate for fee deregulation at universities. In a speech to the National Press Club and an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2012, Professor Hilmer argued an urgent need to deregulate fees in order to increase university revenue, suggesting that students in medicine, law, business and engineering should pay more for their “premium” degrees.

Ammy Singh

Source: http://tharunka.arc.unsw.edu.au/unsw-pushes-increase-fees-popular-courses/

Thoughts?

 

[Drifting95]

Not a smart move, we'll all be fucked like the USA kiddos repaying uni debt for the next 10-15 yrs.

 

[rumbleroar]

saw this

I think it's terrible plan...it's almost as if the government is trying to discourage people from furthering their education by making it more expensive for students. It's really unfair for students of more disadvantaged or lower-socio economic backgrounds. I bet all this money is going into liberal govt's plan to destroy our forests and the environment.

Damn hate for liberal party is simmering again lol

 

[wannaspoon]

Source: http://tharunka.arc.unsw.edu.au/unsw-pushes-increase-fees-popular-courses/

Thoughts?

What I feel like doing to "fred"... and also my reaction to all that...

 

[rope]

saw this

I think it's terrible plan...it's almost as if the government is trying to discourage people from furthering their education by making it more expensive for students. It's really unfair for students of more disadvantaged or lower-socio economic backgrounds. I bet all this money is going into liberal govt's plan to destroy our forests and the environment.

Damn hate for liberal party is simmering again lol

"Go8 proposal" not "liberal party proposal".

 

[enigma_1]

This is terrible. We shouldn't be fiddling with education by applying it to the concept of demand and supply. Education should not only be given to those who can afford it, it should be open to all people. It's not as if rich people will perform the job better than people who may not be able to afford the fees of that degree. It's all about picking the right people to do the right job, so that our economy can function efficiently and effectively, and hopefully develop a comparative advantage in a sector other than mining.

 

[classicjimbo]

Not a smart move, we'll all be fucked like the USA kiddos repaying uni debt for the next 10-15 yrs.

why? do you plan to not work for 10-15 years after you graduate?

going by the articles figures people might end up with about $40k-$70k hecs debt and that's only about one years worth of a mid-level grad program salary
it's an annoying increase but it's realistically not that much

saw this

I think it's terrible plan...it's almost as if the government is trying to discourage people from furthering their education by making it more expensive for students. It's really unfair for students of more disadvantaged or lower-socio economic backgrounds. I bet all this money is going into liberal govt's plan to destroy our forests and the environment.

Damn hate for liberal party is simmering again lol

why does it disadvantage them?
they're not suddenly being forced to pay upfront fees
uni is a level playing field and as long as they work hard like everyone else at uni they'll get jobs and will be able to pay off those loans

This is terrible. We shouldn't be fiddling with education by applying it to the concept of demand and supply. Education should not only be given to those who can afford it, it should be open to all people. It's not as if rich people will perform the job better than people who may not be able to afford the fees of that degree. It's all about picking the right people to do the right job, so that our economy can function efficiently and effectively, and hopefully develop a comparative advantage in a sector other than mining.

they're not being forced to pay up front what don't you understand nobody is paying for their education until they're over a 52k salary
they're still public universities, if you earn the atar you earn the privilege to that education
it is open to all people haven't you heard of EAS or researched the ridiculous amount of bonus points they give to 'disadvantaged' students
omg

 

[enigma_1]

why? do you plan to not work for 10-15 years after you graduate?

going by the articles figures people might end up with about $40k-$70k hecs debt and that's only about one years worth of a mid-level grad program salary
it's an annoying increase but it's realistically not that much



why does it disadvantage them?
they're not suddenly being forced to pay upfront fees
uni is a level playing field and as long as they work hard like everyone else at uni they'll get jobs and will be able to pay off those loans



they're not being forced to pay up front what don't you understand nobody is paying for their education until they're over a 52k salary
they're still public universities, if you earn the atar you earn the privilege to that education
it is open to all people haven't you heard of EAS or researched the ridiculous amount of bonus points they give to 'disadvantaged' students
omg

What the heck? Stop quoting everyone. I'n saying that they shouldn't think of increasing fees anyway. Otherwise, it's basically like they're converting education into a product.

Btw, are you a brother of Justin Bieber's?

 

[rope]

Raising fees by a bit for a few degrees doesn't automatically make the entire higher education system suddenly only for "rich people". Besides, HECS takes care of these sort of issues. It's the cheapest loan that you'll ever get in your life with no upfront payment and considering it's subjected to an income threshold there's pretty much no risk to go get a degree (as a local, that is). Nothing there to deter an aspirational low SES person from attending uni. Need to look at it from the uni's perspective - very limited ways to raise money as a public institution and if it means less cuts to staff and courses and a more sustainable future then it's a worthwhile trade-off.

 

[Graney]

Sounds like a gr8 policy, why should taxpayers subsidise hecs for accounting and engineering students?

It's just part of the whole Australian culture of entitlement, the privileged always demanding more. Most of those students go on to have six figure salaries a few years after graduation, and even if they don't it's HECs, there's no punitive pressure to pay it back.

Don't people in these highly paid occupations have an obligation to pay back to society for their education?

It's funny how students rage against tax avoiding corporations/reinhart, but engineers earning $100+k per year actually being asked to pay for their education? That might affect me or someone I know, don't you dare touch my entitlements.

 

[Drifting95]

why? do you plan to not work for 10-15 years after you graduate?

going by the articles figures people might end up with about $40k-$70k hecs debt and that's only about one years worth of a mid-level grad program salary
it's an annoying increase but it's realistically not that much

That's the aim.

You're quoting gross income, for most people it would take a number of years to repay that, let alone save for a house deposit. Unless you enjoy renting for the rest of your life (go for it if you like, we need people paying off my IP's)

 

[classicjimbo]

What the heck? Stop quoting everyone. I'n saying that they shouldn't think of increasing fees anyway. Otherwise, it's basically like they're converting education into a product.

Btw, are you a brother of Justin Bieber's?

quoting people is the norm idiot
and no it really isn't
they're not increasing fees, they're bringing them closer to their true prices

That's the aim.

You're quoting gross income, for most people it would take a number of years to repay that, let alone save for a house deposit. Unless you enjoy renting for the rest of your life (go for it if you like, we need people paying off my IP's)

you're making mountains of mole hills from what's only about a $25k max increase
most people are idiots with money and realistically one year of (smart choices) & living at home with parents during a grad program will allow you to pay off most of it
if people spend their money poorly and aren't able to achieve the investment goals they wanted to then call the wambulance for them but it's not a factor that should be considered

boohoo things got a tiny bit harder
now you'll only be able to make a house deposit at age 29 instead of age 27 why is it so hard

 

[Graney]

That's the aim.

You're quoting gross income, for most people it would take a number of years to repay that, let alone save for a house deposit. Unless you enjoy renting for the rest of your life (go for it if you like, we need people paying off my IP's)

The hecs repayment threshold isn't changing, so you'll have the same take home pay if this policy is implemented, up until the point your hecs is paid off fully (which will take somewhat longer).

So unless you're waiting for your entire hecs debt to be paid off before accumulating a house deposit, this policy won't affect the time required to obtain a house deposit.

 

[OzKo]

If anyone is interested in reading the submissions made for the review, check out the following link:

https://submissions.deewr.gov.au/Forms/demand-driven-funding-system/pages/index?c=1

 

[isildurrrr1]

That's the aim.

You're quoting gross income, for most people it would take a number of years to repay that, let alone save for a house deposit. Unless you enjoy renting for the rest of your life (go for it if you like, we need people paying off my IP's)

Your total student debt should be no greater than 1 years worth of income.

Stop moaning people. 15k a year is still peanuts compared to the 60k+ USA kiddies pay. And it's only for "high demand" degrees like law, engineering, medicine and accounting anyway. You know how much that shit costs for medicine and eng students to use equipment? you know how expensive law professors are? Lol, there aren't even that many domestic accounting students anymore, all that shit is done by internationals.

Besides I'm about to grad so sux2bu people.

 

[Squar3root]

To be fair universities are businesses not places of education. [Sarcasm] What crazy person thought that you will be learning at uni?? [/sarcasm]