6 December 2017

With the government’s proposed higher education legislation blocked in the Senate, the government is once again reported to be seriously considering recouping the $2.8 billion in savings from its legislative package via administrative mechanisms that do not require Parliamentary approval. Measures believed to be under consideration include the abolition of the $148 million Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program, cuts to research support programs, a freeze on future indexation of Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding, and the re-capping of undergraduate student places.

Universities Australia has this week released the results of an independently commissioned survey which found that 60 per cent of voters opposed cutting funding to education, research or equity programs without Parliamentary approval, rising to almost 70 per cent in regional and rural areas. The Group of Eight has also called on the Minister to undertake a system-wide review of higher education rather than pressing ahead with further cuts, stating that the rising global market for talent and shifts to the Australian economy have created a more challenging environment for job seekers.

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The balance between VET and university education is also under scrutiny, with the Australia’s higher education editor Tim Dodd calling on Minister Birmingham to ‘step up’ to resolve the differential funding between higher and vocational education. Labelling the post-school education system a ‘mess’ and criticising the proposal to use discretionary unlegislated cuts to recoup budget shortfalls, Dodd also suggests that the ‘discriminatory’ difference between subsidies for VET and university students should be abolished. Outgoing QUT VC Peter Coaldrake has also urged the government to focus on integrating the post-school education system, warning that universities were ‘noisy’ but that 60 per cent of Australian young people undertook vocational education. Professor Coaldrake also highlighted ballooning HELP loan costs, job outcomes for graduates and an increasing reliance on international students as key concerns for the university sector. In a new report, the Victorian Skills Commissioner, Neil Coulson, has also targeted ‘aggressive university marketing’ as a key contributor to an impending trade skills crisis for Australia, warning that parents and students are ‘over-valuing’ university degrees.

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Attrition, completion and graduate outcomes also remain on the agenda, following the Minister’s sharp critique of universities for not doing more to ensure that students progress through their programs and that degrees are aligned with employer needs. In The Conversation, higher education researchers Tim Pitman and Gavin Moodie analyse the latest attrition data in the global context, highlighting the strong links between rates of attrition and high proportions of part-time, external and online students, and the need for particular support for these cohorts. The health sector has also raised concerns about accommodating the rising number of university graduates in regional areas, with nursing highlighted as a particular area where retention of existing staff and a lack of graduate places was combining to lock many graduates out of the regional workforce.

Universities Australia deputy CEO Catriona Jackson has defended the demand-driven system and the increased number of university-qualified Australians, highlighting the ‘thinking capacity’ that university graduates bring to roles regardless of their degrees. A new study has also highlighted particular barriers to succeeding at university for students from a refugee background, including a lack of support for transition from school to university and a crucial need for financial support given students often faced challenges to financial security and access to accommodation.

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In international education news, the latest higher education data has highlighted that the major recovery in international student numbers has been in Victoria and NSW, with the growth concentrated primarily in postgraduate programs at a small number of Group of Eight universities. Projected drops due to changes to visas and English language study requirements did not appear to affect overall numbers, although international education leaders have warned that the effects of the signals sent by these policy shifts may not yet be felt.

The Australian international education sector is also under threat from transnational education expansion in the UK, with the International Education Association of Australia accusing the UK of ‘undercutting’ competitors through an aggressive credentialing model that offered UK qualifications to students who had not studied at UK universities. A diplomatic stand-off over free trade agreements has also prevented Peruvian graduates of Australian universities from holding positions in the Peruvian public service, with the national education agency refusing to recognize Australian credentials until a free trade agreement was finalized.

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