Students pay more, unis get less

Peter Mac

As a result of the Howard Government's tertiary education 
policies over the last eight years, university students are now 
carrying an ever-heavier fee load to compensate for the steady 
decrease in tertiary education funding.

Many students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level have 
already been forced to pay full university fees — i.e. their 
places carry no funding from the government. An analysis carried 
out for the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) indicates 
that if the present trend continues, all students will eventually 
be paying full fees for their university education, and could end 
up carrying most or all of the financial burden of the nation's 
university education system.

Twenty years ago, when university places were free, the 
government provided full funding for courses. Since the re-
introduction of fees in the late 1980s by the Hawke Government 
fees have risen steadily with students payer a higher proportion 
of the cost of their studies each year.

Under the present Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) 
students pay a proportion of the cost as a fee (either upfront or 
in the form of a loan to later be repaid to the government) and 
the government pays the remainder — what is now referred to as a 
"government subsidy". Additional places are available where 
students can afford to pay the full fee — no government 
contribution.

Funding falling

As indicated in figures supplied by the Department of Education, 
Science and Training (DEST), the number of subsidised full-time 
student places rose by almost 35,000 over the past eight years. 
The government makes much of the fact that university operating 
funding has increased (at face value) by about $542 million 
during this time. However, the NTEU analysis revealed that when 
those figures were adjusted for inflation and expressed in 1993 
terms, funding has actually fallen by some $317 million.

The figures have been skewed (and the funding shortfall worsened) 
because of the government's approach to funding.

For example, the government has consistently underestimated the 
number of students expected to apply for university places. 
Enrolments in excess of the government's anticipated quota (known 
as "over enrolments") attract a greatly reduced government 
contribution under the HECS. Until 1998 the government offered no 
subsidy at all for "over enrolment" places!

At the same time, the amount of funding provided per student 
actually fell by some $1740 per student. This represents a total 
of $784 million (when multiplied by the number of student places) 
for 1993, or $2.46 billion for the full eight-year period. In 
short, funding in real terms has actually suffered a cut of 
around 13 per cent.

Students forced to make up losses

HECS fees cover a proportion of the resources that universities 
have available to them. In the period in question, this 
proportion almost doubled, rising from 19.6 percent in 1996 to 38 
percent in 2003.

The trend revealed in the NTEU study will be exacerbated next 
year, when many universities plan to increase their HECS fees by 
some 25 percent. Their decision to increase fees was again 
prompted by the Howard Government's policy of "deregulating" 
university fee levels.

If you can't pay, you can't study

The growth in population and the increasing importance of 
tertiary qualifications has led to a steadily rising demand for 
university places. However, each rise in student fees knocks out 
a proportion of students for whom the extra proves to be too 
large a financial burden. As a result, the number of university 
enrolments has now begun to fall.

Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator, commented: 
"Is it any wonder that fewer high school students are going on to 
university, given that the cost of a government-subsidised 
university place has almost doubled under this government?

"In 2003 dollar values, an average student was paying $4413 [per 
annum] for a government-subsidised place compared to only $2276 
in 1996, an increase of $2137 or 94 percent. For a four-year 
degree this represents an increase of over $8500.

"The DEST figures underline the consequences of the Government's 
higher education policy. Students are finding university less 
attractive because of increasing costs, and universities are 
finding it more difficult to educate students because of 
decreasing resources. Students have been asked to pay more for 
less. No wonder they are reconsidering whether to attend 
university or not."