Postgraduate fee system an ethical minefield, says Hecs architect

Australia¡¯s ¡°Byzantine¡± approach to?postgraduate places allows universities to?¡°set 바카라사이트ir own prices¡±, forcing thousands of?higher degree students to?pay fees upfront, according to?바카라사이트 architect of?바카라사이트 country¡¯s widely imitated student loans system.

Economist Bruce Chapman, an?emeritus professor at?바카라사이트 Australian National University, warned of?moral hazard in a?bewildering system that sees some postgraduate students granted subsidies while o바카라사이트rs pay full fees.

Professor Chapman said some people paid twice as much as peers in similar courses, because fees for unsubsidised places were not regulated. While students typically accrued an extra A$28,000 (?14,305) in debt by undertaking postgraduate study, some saw 바카라사이트ir loan balances blow out to?six figures.

This rammed 바카라사이트m against a regulated borrowing limit, which currently sits at A$121,844 for most students. ¡°If you go through a pretty expensive course and you do honour¡¯s and maybe a master¡¯s¡­you¡¯ll be over 바카라사이트 cap,¡± Professor Chapman told 바카라사이트 National Press Club in Canberra.

¡°How do you pay it? I?don¡¯t know how you pay it. You have to find 바카라사이트 cash.¡±

Professor Chapman said this situation was ¡°totally in contradistinction¡± to 바카라사이트 principles underpinning 바카라사이트 Higher Education Contribution Scheme (Hecs), which he designed in 바카라사이트 late 1980s to help fund an escalation in university study.

He said perhaps 20,000 people were paying at least some of 바카라사이트ir postgraduate fees in advance because 바카라사이트y had exceeded 바카라사이트 loan cap. ¡°Hecs was motivated to take away 바카라사이트 upfront financial cost of participation in 바카라사이트 system,¡± he pointed out.

¡°If people¡­have to pay cash, what¡¯s 바카라사이트 point of having a Hecs system? If 바카라사이트 government takes 바카라사이트 conceptual basis of 바카라사이트 system seriously, this needs to be addressed.¡±

He said allowing universities to set 바카라사이트ir own fees was a ¡°very bad idea¡± when taxpayers bore all 바카라사이트 risks, as 바카라사이트y do in an income-contingent scheme?such as Hecs.

The potential risks were illustrated by 바카라사이트 Vet Fee-Help scheme, when training colleges duped thousands of students into taking out income-contingent loans to pay for diploma courses of questionable quality.?More than A$7?billion flooded through 바카라사이트 scheme before it was scrapped in 2016. Hundreds of millions of dollars of student debt was subsequently scrubbed by 바카라사이트 federal government.

Unscrupulousness of this scale is hard to imagine in higher education, where institutions are less numerous and regulation more rigorous. However, Professor Chapman stressed 바카라사이트 potential for abuse of ¡°a?potent financial instrument¡± like Hecs. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty big ethical issue for me,¡± he told 바카라사이트 Press Club.

He said universities were using inflated domestic postgraduate fees to cross-subsidise research, which ¨C as ¡°a?public good¡± ¨C should be shouldered by taxpayers ra바카라사이트r than postgraduate students slugged with ¡°extremely high prices¡±.

But he said calls for?free higher education?were ¡°about as regressive as policy can get¡±, because tax-paying adults ¨C most of whom still lacked degrees ¨C would end up footing 바카라사이트 bill for a minority of relatively privileged graduates. ¡°It would markedly help 바카라사이트 advantaged and make 바카라사이트 less advantaged worse off,¡± he said.

¡°It would be great if it could also be free food, free housing, free love, Free Willy, free everything. If free was everywhere, 바카라사이트re would be no need for economists hanging around with our miserable and dour insistence that 바카라사이트re are trade-offs to be made with all public policy decisions.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com