Higher education
Building a sustainable university sector
The Greens say they are committed to boosting funding to the university sector by $8.3 billion over four years so it can provide high quality and affordable higher education and training. To help provide world-class teaching and research opportunities in universities, the Greens will:
Invest $7 billion to reverse the Coalition’s cuts and fund a 10% increase in base funding per student at public universities; and
Invest $1.306 billion into research to reverse Government cuts to our most successful university research.
Supporting university students
The Greens propose to oppose higher fees for students by:
- reducing students’ HELP costs by 20%; and
- reinstating the Student Start-Up Scholarships as a grant rather than a loan.
The Greens say the annual cost of $1.403 billion will be more than offset by continuing the ‘deficit levy’ on a permanent basis for those earning over $180,000 per year, raising an additional $1.55 billion per annum.
Vocational Education & Training
The Greens propose to:
- Cease providing federal government funds to for-profit VET providers.
- Implement a TAFE federal rescue package which boosts funding by $400 million a year.
- Establish a VET Ombudsman with $10 million in seed funding.
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