HIGHER EDUCATION AND STATE – AUSTRALIA

Arts degrees to cost $50,000 until at least 2027 despite Albanese reform promises, vice-chancellor says

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Original article by Krishani Dhanji
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 26-Aug-25

Western Sydney University’s vice-chancellor George Williams says changes to the former Coalition government’s job-ready graduates scheme will take some time to implement. The scheme prioritised courses whose graduates are in high demand, while increasing the cost of degrees in disciplines such as arts and humanities. Williams says the scheme was flawed from the outset, and it was a major disincentive for students to go to university – particularly for women and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. He hopes the cost of arts degrees will be reduced in time for the 2027 student intake.

CORPORATES
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY

Dutton playing Donald Trump anti-migration card in plan to slash international students, higher education peak body says

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Original article by Caitlin Cassidy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Apr-25

International Education Association of Australia CEO, Phil Honeywood says the Coalition did not consult with the sector on its proposal to cap new international student numbers at 240,000 a year. This is skewed towards TAFE and private vocational education and training providers, rather than the nation’s public universities. Honeywood notes that the Coalition has traditionally been more inclined to support independent providers over their public counterparts. Former immigration bureaucrat Abul Rizvi in turn notes that the private VET sector has a history of "rorts and dodgy qualifications".

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

Unis capped at 40pc overseas students

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Original article by Julie Hare
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Aug-24

Sources within the federal government have indicated that it proposes to enforce new caps on international student numbers from the start of 2025. Labor is expected to announce specific caps for each university and college within days, but they will be required to limit foreign student numbers to 40 per cent of their total enrolment. The proposed caps will be based on 2019 figures, when there were 671,200 foreign students in Australia; this compares with an estimated 780,100 in 2024. Sydney University, Monash and RMIT are among at least 10 universities that currently exceed the cap.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, MONASH UNIVERSITY, RMIT UNIVERSITY

Universities on brink of ground zero

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Tim Dodd
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Jun-20

The University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor Michael Spence has warned that the higher education sector’s loss of fee revenue from international students will jeopardise its future research capabilities. Australian National University vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt has expressed similar concerns, noting the economic benefits of university-based research. The nation’s universities are lobbying the federal government for increased funding to offset the loss of revenue due to the pandemic, but Education Minister Dan Tehan says their focus should shift to local students and online learning. Some universities have already laid off employees.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Uni funding: job success gets more weight

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Original article by Robert Bolton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Oct-19

Education Minister Dan Tehan has advised that the federal government will give more weighting to graduate employment outcomes when allocating additional money to the nation’s universities under a new performance-based funding model. The increased focus on ensuring that university graduates are equipped with the skills to obtain employment quickly follows the government’s move to provide an extra $80m in performance-based funding in 2020. Meanwhile, the Australian Learning Lecture Project has questions the relevance of ATAR entry scores for admission to university courses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN LEARNING LECTURE PROJECT, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

University outrage at research cash cut

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Original article by Michael Koziol
The Age – Page: 1 : 13-Nov-18

Australia’s leading universities have criticised the federal government’s plans to redirect $134m from the Research Support Program to provide increased funding for regional universities. University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence says universities will have to reduce their research activities while many students will miss out places at the nation’s top universities. Monash University’s vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner has described the funding cuts as "unnecessary" and "reckless".

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, MONASH UNIVERSITY, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF THE SUNSHINE COAST, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY

Stronger economy to cut size of deficit

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Original article by David Uren, Joe Kelly, John Ross
The Australian – Page: 2 : 15-Dec-17

The Federal Government’s May 2017 Budget had forecast a total deficit of $A46bn over four years. However, Westpac economists Bill Evans and Andrew Hanlan expect the mid-year budget update to revise this down to $A40bn. Westpac also forecasts a deficit of $A1.5bn in 2019-20, followed by a modest surplus in 2020-21. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signalled that higher education funding will not be reduced in the budget update, although he has flagged new savings measures after the government’s proposed university funding cuts were rejected by the Senate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Coalition out for big uni savings

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Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 1-May-17

Education Minister Simon Birmingham will reveal changes to the Federal Government’s policy on higher education on 1 May 2017. The changes, which are understood to include a tightening of the HELP loan system and a moderate increase in student fees, are expected to result in savings of around $A1 billion a year. Birmingham will then have the tough job of trying to persuade the Senate to pass the changes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Students face higher ed budget cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Apr-17

The Australian Government’s May 2017 Budget could include new measures that target university students and graduates. Stalled measures in the 2014 Budget are tipped to be abandoned, prompting speculation that the Government will seek to offset the failed $A7bn worth of spending cuts. These could potentially include an increase in students’ fees and a reduction in the income threshold for the repayment of HECS-HELP debts. At present, graduates must begin repaying their student debt when their annual income reaches $A54,869.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

$6bn vocational loan fiasco ends

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Original article by Julie Hare, Kylar Loussikian
The Australian – Page: 2 : 5-Oct-16

The Federal Government will introduce a new student loans scheme, amid revelations that the cost of the VET FEE-HELP scheme has blown out to $A6bn since it was launched in 2012. The scheme was exploited by many private vocational education providers, with many charging exorbitant fees for courses that had little prospect of leading to employment. The new Vocational Education and Training Students Loans scheme will impose stricter eligibility criteria for courses, while student loans will be capped.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CORNERSTONE INVESTMENTS