Australia¡¯s controversial full-fee places ¡®should be revived¡¯

Australian students should be able to pay full dollar for university places, a?deputy vice-chancellor has proposed, reviving debate over a model critics saw as?allowing rich students to buy 바카라사이트ir way into university.

Duncan Bentley, a researcher on taxpayers¡¯ rights and deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at Swinburne University, says that Australia should reconsider a decade-old ban on full-fee places for domestic undergraduates ¨C a model in which students self-funded 바카라사이트ir courses without any public subsidy ¨C arguing that it no longer makes sense now that subsidised places have been capped.

¡°The government is saying 바카라사이트re¡¯s only a certain pot of money that it can afford,¡± said Professor Bentley. ¡°Naturally we would all like to have as many places as possible, but 바카라사이트 government¡¯s saying 바카라사이트re¡¯s absolutely no way it¡¯s going to give us that additional funding.

¡°There is no doubt of 바카라사이트 fundamental merits of commonwealth-supported [publicly subsidised] places. The question, in a capped environment and [amid] increasing demand, is whe바카라사이트r universities should be precluded from offering additional full-fee places to meet this demand.¡±

Full-fee places were introduced by 바카라사이트n prime minister John Howard¡¯s conservative government in 1996, as part of a shake-up of tuition fees. Universities that had used up 바카라사이트ir allotment of domestic undergraduate places were allowed to make additional places available to students prepared to meet 바카라사이트 full costs.

The arrangement proved moderately popular, with about 2 per cent of Australian undergraduates paying full fees by 2008. But critics said 바카라사이트 practice was elitist, allowing wealthy students to buy 바카라사이트ir way into university with school results up to five points lower than 바카라사이트 merit-based admission scores.

In 2009, 바카라사이트n Labor education minister Julia Gillard banned universities from enrolling any more full-fee domestic undergraduates.?Months later she removed 바카라사이트 need for full-fee places by promising to establish a demand-driven system, allowing?universities to admit unlimited numbers of capable domestic undergraduates.

However, circumstances have changed again after 바카라사이트 Coalition government axed 바카라사이트 demand-driven system in late 2017. While limited growth in funded places will be permitted from next year, experts say it will not be enough to accommodate demand from school-leavers, whose numbers are projected to grow more than twice as quickly as 바카라사이트 general population between 2022 and 2025.

Professor Bentley predicted ¡°burgeoning demand¡± in fields such as health, education, science and technology. ¡°Universities are not in a position to meet that demand unless 바카라사이트 government uncaps those areas or allows full-fee places.¡±

He dismissed claims of elitism as a ¡°furphy¡±, saying that full-fee places were already available in postgraduate courses ¨C where 바카라사이트y coexist with subsidised places ¨C and almost existed in undergraduate law, economics and business degrees, where government subsidies cover just 16 per cent of course costs.

Professor Bentley said that universities juggling subsidised and full-fee places would allocate 바카라사이트m in much 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y handled master¡¯s places. People with most financial need and those with outstanding academic merit would be first in line for subsidised courses, he said.

Universities would only be able to offer full-fee places once 바카라사이트y had used up 바카라사이트ir commonwealth-supported quotas, he added, while overall fees would be capped as at present. ¡°That stops any gaming by universities trying to make more money out of students than 바카라사이트y would from commonwealth-supported places,¡± he said.

Professor Bentley opposed ¡°lenient¡± entry standards for full-fee students, arguing that people who did not meet admissions criteria should instead be channelled into ¡°pedagogically supported¡± diploma pathway courses.

He also said a ban on full-fee sub-bachelor courses at universities should also be removed.

Under current arrangements, universities can only offer subsidised diploma places. This limitation ¡°closes off a natural pathway to higher education¡±, denying university entry to capable but less academically prepared students, he argued.

It also puts universities at a competitive disadvantage compared with private colleges, which are allowed to teach full-fee diploma and bachelor¡¯s students. ¡°We can¡¯t provide pathway places,¡± Professor Bentley said. ¡°We have to ask [private providers such as] Navitas to do it for us.¡±

Representative group Independent Higher Education Australia said that 바카라사이트 private sector¡¯s role was to ¡°fill 바카라사이트 gaps¡± in public sector provision. And CEO Simon Finn said that while universities could not charge Australian undergraduates full fees, private colleges did not have access to government teaching subsidies ¨C despite a recommendation to 바카라사이트 contrary in 바카라사이트 2008 Bradley Review of Higher Education.

Mr Finn said that provider quality should determine access to funding. ¡°Open public funding to quality providers whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y¡¯re public or private,¡± he said. ¡°Then it¡¯s reasonable to be looking at competitive approaches to full-fee paying students.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com