Grattan Institute | 13 October 2014 ....but courses matter more ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Bachelor-degree graduates of Australia’s sandstone and technology universities earn about 6% more over a 40-year career than do graduates of Australia’s other universities, a new Grattan Institute report reveals. The report - Mapping Australian higher education, 2014-15 - also shows that course taken has a bigger effect on income than university attended. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Technology universities – including RMIT, Curtin University and Queensland University of Technology – are much lower in international university rankings than sandstone … [Read more...]
The Scan | Edition #161 | 29 August 2014
30/08/2014 by
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Pyne introduces reform bill 28 August 2014 | The government introduced its higher education reform legislation into Parliament – the Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill 2014. As anticipated, the legislation closely mirrors the announcement on budget night. There is to be fee deregulation with a requirement that 20% of net additional revenue from fee increases be set aside for equity scholarships. Students’ loans through the HELP scheme will be indexed at the 10-year bond rate … [Read more...]
Higher education: a “public good” or “pernicious welfare” ?
19/06/2014 by
20 June 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In this op-ed piece originally published in The Australian, Ben Etherington (Univeristy of Western Sydney) takes issue with John Roskam's proposition that "taxpayer-subsidised higher education is one of the more pernicious forms of welfare". Among other things, Roskam queried the relevance of studying the “emergence of poetry in various Caribbean Creoles”, Etherington's current project. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… “In an era of busy government and constant change, it’s insufficiently recognised how often masterly inactivity can be the best contribution that government can make to a particular sector. A period … [Read more...]
Australia’s university groupings
26/04/2014 by
26 April 2014…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Useful background on Australia's various university groups by RMIT adjunct professor Gavin Moodie which first appeared as comments on the article Universities should be able to charge students what they want in The Conversation. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….................................... Australian higher education institutions have formed themselves into groups with similar interests since the conference of directors of central institutes of technology (DOCIT) formed into a group to prepare a submission to the Williams committee of inquiry into education and training (1976). In 1999 DOCIT reformed as the Australian … [Read more...]
The Scan
01/03/2014 by
1 March 2014 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Job cuts at La Trobe 28 February 2014 | La Trobe University has confirmed it is cutting 350 jobs as part of a restructure. University management told staff at a meeting this afternoon. It is understood the redundancies are compulsory, and will affect the university's Bundoora campus in Melbourne's north west as well as its regional Victorian campuses....[ MORE ].... TEQSA shake up 28 February 2014 | The government has introduced a bill to radically restructure the national higher education regulatory agency.The bill provides for a spill of the positions of the five commissioners … [Read more...]
Commonwealth plots uni takeover
16/12/2013 by
Australian Financial Review | 16 December 2013The Commonwealth government is planning to end the historical role of state governments in the establishment and governance of universities._______________________________________________________Education minister Christopher Pyne is in talks with the NSW government about the Commonwealth assuming control over the governance of the state’s 10 universities, which would be the first stage of a national takeover.Currently, all universities except the Australian National University were established as state institutions, although the Whitlam government took over direct funding in 1974 and the Commonwealth has had an increasing regulatory … [Read more...]
The Scan in October 2013 : Most read items
02/11/2013 by
1 November 2013 Why TAFE matters 25 October 2013 | The insightful Leesa Wheelahan will soon be decamping the LH Martin Institute to take up the at the University of Toronto. Here she reflects on the challenges facing the TAFE sector as a result of “VET reform”, which she suggests can only result in a greatly diminished role for TAFE, at great community and social cost....[ READ MORE ].... Hockey rules out privatisation of HECS 18 October 2013 | Treasurer Joe Hockey has hosed down speculation that the government plans to “privatise” student debt, following claims that the right to recoup loans worth about $23 billion may be “sold off” to the private sector. But education … [Read more...]
