The Australian Government Lands Another Blow Against Higher Education

I am enrolled in an intensive subject set to commence in February, and I just received an email from the Student Administration politely informing me that Mathematics, Statistics, and Science had been downgraded from a ‘national priority’ to Band 2 funding, which would mean that the maximum student contribution had increased.

I had absolutely no idea what this meant, although I had a nasty suspicion that it meant something would be costing me more money, the prospect of which rarely thrills me. So I called over boyfriend, and asked him to take a look. He confirmed my suspicions.

After some researching, I actually found out what this means.  The Australian government website requires one to jump through numerous hoops to actually obtain this information, but this link provides the information:

http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/csps/pages/student-contribution-amounts

How the government determines the level of subsidy it gives certain courses and subjects is very difficult information to actually discover.

The QTAC website says the following:

“The Australian Government contributes towards course costs for Commonwealth supported students. Students also pay a ‘student contribution’. This student contribution may be borrowed from the Commonwealth government under the HECS-HELP Scheme.
Student contributions vary between providers and courses. These student contributions must be within a range set by the government (see table below for a guide to the cost of a standard full-time year of tertiary study in 2012). Course specific indicative costs will be available late in 2012 from each institution.”

A paper published by Engineers Australia suggests: “ Government investment in higher education has been justified in terms of delivering benefits to the economy, benefits to society and equity of access for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.”

So the government subsidises subjects depending on how vital it deems those subjects to be. The table for funding in 2012 is as follows:

2012 Student contribution bands and ranges
Student contribution band	2012 Student contribution range (per EFTSL)
Band 3: Law, dentistry, medicine, veterinary science, accounting, administration, economics, commerce (see note 1)	$0 - $9,425
Band 2: Computing, built environment, other health, Allied health, engineering, surveying, agriculture	$0 - $8,050
Band 1: Humanities, behavioural science, social studies, education, clinical psychology, foreign languages, visual and performing arts, education, nursing (see notes 2 and 4)	$0 – $5,648
National priorities: Mathematics, statistics and science (see notes 3 and 4)	$0 – $4,520

The table for the funding in 2013 is as follows:

2013 Student contribution bands and ranges
Student contribution band	2013 Student contribution range (per EFTSL)
Band 3: Law, accounting, administration, economics, commerce, dentistry, medicine, veterinary science	$0 - $9,792
Band 2: Mathematics, statistics, computing, built environment, other health, allied health, science, engineering, surveying, agriculture	$0 - $8,363
Band 1: Humanities, behavioural science, social studies, education (see Notes), clinical psychology, foreign languages, visual and performing arts, nursing (see Notes)	$0 – $5,868

I am sure that there are many reasons and reports which explain the rationale behind which subjects and courses go into which band, but from my perspective, there are some very baffling decisions. The fact that no explanation was provided as to how mathematics, statistics and science dropped from national priorities to band 2 bewilders me. How is this a system that is accountable to the students within it?

I really feel for any students undergoing a science degree, as the cost of their degree has just doubled, without any explanation.

Sharon Bird is the parliamentary secretary for Higher Education – I seem unable to identify a specific minister for this important area, as I found out just now when I struggled through yet another awkward government website.

This is not an accountable system that informs students – those who will make up the future knowledge economy and workforce of Australia - why the fee changes are occurring, without notice or justification. I was informed of this price change only after I had enrolled in the subject and my place in it had been confirmed by the University. For Science students who began their course last year and the year before, at the time of selecting that course, they were informed that the subjects within that course were designated ‘national priority’ and therefore subject to the maximum level of Government financial support and educational priority. Now, without any warning, publicity or explanation, they are faced with the unpleasant discovery that midway through their course, it has been downgraded not one, but two bands. This implies the course is suddenly of lesser value and in financial terms, they are facing an extra $4000 a year in either debt or upfront fees. This further adds to the financial burden when, again, without warning, the Government abruptly slashed the discount for upfront fee payments from 20% to 10%, even to those who were midway through their courses.

This is not supporting university students or tertiary education in Australia.

I am aghast. You should be too.