Tertiary sector news & views
7 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… GetUp's quick, clever and topical take on Team Australia : train passengers in Perth rescuing a fellow passenger who had slipped into the crack between the train and the platform on 6 August. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… … [Read more...]
Fairfax Media | 4 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The president of the Business Council of Australia, Catherine Livingstone, says that Australian universities are enrolling too many domestic students who should opt for vocational education and training. Go8 chair Ian Young thinks the elite universities probably will slim down if fees are deregulated. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......… The president of the Business Council of Australia, Catherine Livingstone, says that Australian universities are enrolling too many domestic students who should opt for vocational education and training. She told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce that a large … [Read more...]
The Australian | 1 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… NSW TAFEs have been told that they should take advantage of Coalition reforms by reinventing themselves as the "discount airline of higher education" vis-a-vis universities. We see the point but you need to be careful: TAFE ought not be - nor be seen to be - as a cheap, low quality and potentially unsafe alternative. TigerAir gets a bad press and, from our once only experience, thoroughly deserves it. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......… In a report on fees and pricing strategies, consultants SMS Management and Technology told TAFE NSW that federal government proposals — specifically, the deregulation … [Read more...]
NTEU | 6 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The impact of the Federal Budget’s 20% per student funding cut leaves universities with a massive funding black hole amounting to more than $1.5 billion a year from 2019 onwards, argues the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) in its latest budget analysis briefing paper. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......… The impact is heavier upon regional and outer metropolitan universities that are traditionally more reliant on Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding as a source of income. The NTEU calculates that universities will have to increase their fees by about 30% on average … [Read more...]
The Conversation | 1 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 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; this has ensured that the loan carries a zero real rate of interest for all debtors. Times have changed. The 2014/15 budget proposes that the debt be adjusted to the long-term government bond rate, which would lead to significant inequities in the system. Bruce Chapman and Timothy Higgins (ANU) recently conducted some research on this issue, and found there are alternative indexation arrangements worth … [Read more...]
The Australian | 5 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The University of Melbourne has dramatically increased the number of international students it enrols and now has the largest number of any university in Australia. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Australian Education International data shows that in 2013, Melbourne had 14,165 overseas students studying onshore, leapfrogging the University of NSW with 13,123. Monash had 12,271, down from 12,581 in 2012 and 13,192 in 2011. Melbourne now has the third largest proportion of international students of any public university with 27.1%, behind Federation University with 43.6%, most of which … [Read more...]
Fairfax Media | 7 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Education minister Christopher Pyne has confirmed the federal government is considering modifying its plan to apply real interest to student debts following widespread criticism, including by university vice-chancellors. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Pyne told the National Press Club the government will introduce its higher education package to the House of Representatives in its entirety with the expectation of passing it into law in September, but he expects some aspects will not make it through the Senate. It would be immature and churlish of the government if it walked away … [Read more...]
