University fee deregulation was one of the big talking points of this week’s federal budget. From 2016 onwards, Universities will be free to charge whatever they want for their courses, leading to much higher university fees. The reason for this being, primarily, because Federal funding will be cut, and thus the onus will be placed on Universities to retain their own levels of income through price increases placed on the students. The Grattan Institute has released analysis into the breakdown of University funding, and has released the figures on what they believe will be the minimum increase in fees for students after deregulation takes place. The short answer? You’re probably going to be paying a shitload more.
Total Government funding for Higher Education will fall by 20 percent, according to the Department of Education. Depending on what discipline you study, that cut will have significant knock-on effects. It’s worth noting that not all tertiary disciplines are going to take a hit. Law, accounting and commerce are expected to remain relatively stable for the time being. And in cases such as mathematics, humanities, and allied health, the minimum cost to students will fall under deregulated fees; in the case of mathematics, by 26.3%.
But it’s in other areas such as Environmental Studies, Communications, and Visual and Performing Arts that will really cop the brunt of the cuts. Funding to the Arts, for example, will see minimum fees increase by 49.6%, meaning you’ll be paying $9042 per year, which is an increase of some $3000 on the current fee model. And that’s the lesser of the three worst hit. Communications will rise by 99.4%, from the current $6044 to $12,054 per year, and Environmental Studies will be slugged with an incredible 112% increase on minimum fees, rising to a whopping $18,275 per year.
These figures are really only the beginning, representing the figures necessary to stably maintain current levels of funding. Universities will be free to charge whatever the like on top of this, meaning some of the more prestigious schools could charge premium prices for their courses.
All that’s certain at this stage, is that the cost of attending University in Australia is about to surge to levels that are totally unprecedented in this country. Truly, the high cost of higher education.
Photo: Allison Shelley via Getty Images.
via SMH.
