ABC News | 25 September 2013 Education minister Christopher Pyne is trying to hose down concerns he is planning to renege on a promise not to restore limits on university places, but says he has ordered a review because he says evidence suggests "quality is suffering to achieve quantity". Labor abolished the cap on university places in 2007 to boost access to higher education, especially for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. But Pyne says the change has led to an "exponential" growth in student numbers and consequent concerns about quality in the sector. You must be living in a bubble ... if you think that there is not an issue in universities about whether there are … [Read more...]
Pyne to review uni targets and caps
25/09/2013 by
The Australian | 25 September 2013 The target of 40% of 25 to 34-year-olds to have a university degree by 2025 may be abandoned, with new education minister Christopher Pyne declaring he is "obsessed" with quality rather than targets. The targets also require 20% of university students to be from the most disadvantaged quarter of the population by 2020. Pyne also said he would revisit the demand-driven higher education system established by the former Labor government. My aspiration is to get as many people doing university education as want to do it and can do it effectively to maintain quality. I'm not going to get caught up with Labor's targets and goals or five-year … [Read more...]
The first pillar : shattered
24/09/2013 by
Fairfax Media | 24 September 2013 The Coalition promised stability as one of its " seven pillars" of higher education policy. According to media reports of comments by education minister Christopher Pyne, this was a non-core commitment , if a commitment at all. Pyne's comments are a direct contradiction of his unequivocal statement that while the Coalition welcomes "debate over the quality and standards in our universities, we have no plans to increase fees or cap places". The proposal to abolish the student services fee will upset Coalition partners, the National Party, which stated in its election manifesto that it allow universities to charge an amount to cover a limited range of … [Read more...]
Go8 dumps minimum ATAR plan
30/08/2013 by
Australian Financial Review | 26 August 2013 The elite Group of Eight (Go8) universities have stepped back from a controversial proposal to dump the uncapped, demand driven system, a proposition it has been pushing for the best part of a year. The Group has argued that savings of $750m over 4 years that would flow from the introduction of a minimum ATAR of 60 for university entry could offset higher education cuts of nearly $4b announced since last October, including $2.8b earlier this year. But Fred Hilmer, Go8 chair and vice-chancellor of UNSW, now says that using an ATAR minimum to “regulate quality” is “too blunt an instrument” because of the impact it would have on the … [Read more...]
Uncapped funding “fair and efficient”
21/08/2013 by
Swinburne News | 19 August 2013 In an opinion piece published in the Australian Financial Review, Swinburne University's head of Corporate and Government Affairs, Andrew Dempster, says that uncapped funding for higher education is fairer and more efficient. He also says it's consistent with Coalition policy - and Labor , of course, introduced it. There is a degree of resignation in higher education circles that the system of funding undergraduate university places according to student demand may be on its last legs. This is not new. Hand-wringing about the sustainability of the so-called demand-driven system has been fashionable for some time. There is heightened scepticism … [Read more...]
Why open access to universities works and should be left alone
13/08/2013 by
Grattan Institute | 12 August 2013 The demand-driven higher education funding system is a bold public policy experiment. Yet at barely 18 months of age its existence is in question. Encouraged by university leaders, the government is considering re-controlling Commonwealth- supported student numbers. This re-evaluation is not occurring because the demand-driven system is failing. Rather, it is too successful in its goal of increasing student numbers. There are 150,000 more Commonwealth-supported student places (CSPs) this year than in 2007. With expenditure on higher education rising while anticipated tax revenues fell, in April the government announced a $300 … [Read more...]
Increasing equity; compacting quantity
08/08/2013 by
Group of Eight | 6 August 2013 The Group of Eight's Mike Teece writes that the demand driven system was introduced to increase overall higher education qualifications attainment, not to improve equity. While the participation of equity groups has grown, it's been off a low base and make up, in absolute numbers, only a fraction of overall growth. A more effective approach to improving equity group participation would involve targetted measures, combined with a sharper focus on diverse and appropriate admissions procedures and effective student support services to maximise students’ success would contribute more to higher education equity than simply removing the sector’s front … [Read more...]
Don’t rush reform – UA
26/07/2013 by
The Australian | 24 July 2013 Major policy reform of the demand-driven system cannot be rushed in just 72 hours and needs further consultation to avoid unintended consequences, according to Sandra Harding, chair of Universities Australia. At a recent meeting with vice-chancellors, higher education Minister Kim Carr asked them for advice on possible budget-neutral alternatives to the $900 million university funding cuts announced in the May budget, possibly by reining in growth in student places. While UA hasn't developed an alternative proposal, Harding said it had advised the minister of potential issues arising from any changes to the uncapped system. She said new places … [Read more...]
UNSW to impose minimum ATAR of 80 for entry
19/07/2013 by
UNSW Newsroom | 19 July 2013 Which is about what an aspiring UNSW student needs anyway __________________________________________________________ In what has the hallmarks of a political stunt, University of NSW will require a minimum an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 80 or above to enrol in any of its courses next year. Vice-chancellor Fred Hilmer told staff in a video announcement he was concerned that the quality of degrees may be slipping as universities rushed to enrol as many undergraduates as they could take in order to maximise government funding. Hilmer said We have given a lot of thought to where we're heading with enrolments. Over the last few years we … [Read more...]
Carr equivocal on caps, firm on funding cuts
19/07/2013 by
Commonwealth News | 16 July 2013 In an interview on ABC Radio National, higher education minister Kim Carr was somewhat equivocal on the issue of reimposing university enrolment caps. He acknowledged that, in general terms, the 40% bachelor degree attainment target for 25-34 year olds is being approached, with women having already exceeded it. In particular he noted “there are sections of the Australian population - parts, large communities within our cities, in particular, where the growth rates would seem to be pretty much exhausted.” But equally he noted that “in regional areas, and in particular areas of disadvantage there is still a lot more work to be done . As to … [Read more...]
