Students will be paying $50,000 for arts degrees until at least 2027, says one university vice-chancellor, despite the Albanese government labelling the controversial job-ready graduates scheme (JRG) that included an increase to some fees a \u201cfailure\u201d and promising to reform it.<\/p>\n
The Morrison government program increased the price of university degrees including arts, humanities and law, while reducing the cost for Stem degrees including mathematics and essential worker degrees including teaching and nursing.<\/p>\n
The Western Sydney University vice-chancellor, George Williams, a vocal critic of the program, told Guardian Australia he was \u201chopeful\u201d it could be reformed in time for students studying in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be hopeful for 2027 but it\u2019s looking challenging given what the government has already prioritised, and it will take some months to get through the process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought this might have been fixed in the first term of Labor; it\u2019s taken longer than it should have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n The government has set up the Australian Tertiary Education Commission to redesign university fees. But legislation must be passed before Atec can be officially established in early 2026.<\/p>\n Prof Andrew Norton, an expert in higher education at the Monash business school, said this meant a 2027 timeframe would be the absolute earliest to change the structure of university fees.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government will get this new commission to advise them on new funding rates, and the broad idea is they go back to the old system where there\u2019s some rough relationship between earnings and the fees you pay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government [then] has to accept that advice, legislate that advice, and introduce the policy \u2026 this will probably take most of 2026, so 2027 is the earliest possible date in my view for a different student contribution system.\u201d<\/p>\n Norton and Williams believe cost is the primary factor for the delay.<\/p>\n \u201cThey [the commonwealth] would either have to significantly increase student contributions in other courses to offset the cost, which has obvious political implications,\u201d Norton said.<\/p>\n \u201cOr they would have to substantially increase subsidies from the government budget, which they\u2019d be reluctant to do given their overall fiscal situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The universities accord released its interim report about the sector in July 2023 which found JRG had failed. It recommended the scheme be replaced.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Soon after that, the education minister, Jason Clare, scrapped a rule introduced under the scheme, which removed Hecs debt eligibility for students who failed more than 50% of their units.<\/p>\n Other recommendations included introducing payments for some students taking part in practical placements, which the government has also implemented.<\/p>\n On 19 AugustvClare told the AFR education summit the fee structure would be changed but it wasn\u2019t a priority.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taking reform one step at a time,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s the structure of universities or whether it\u2019s fixing JRG, reform is a bit like eating an elephant \u2013 one bite at a time.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never ruled out reform here. It\u2019s all about what you do first.\u201d<\/p>\n