Up front fees fail
9 February 1998
The President of the National Tertiary Education Union, Carolyn Allport said
\"Not only are up front fees completely inequitable, we now evidence that there is virtually no demand for them. With less than 400 students able to afford the $100,000 plus pricetag there is no way that up front fees are within the reach of average people. It is only an option for a few very rich people.\"
The National Tertiary Education Union has declared up front university fees to be a complete failure. Figures gathered from the eight institutions which have introduced up front fees show that, excluding those in receipt of full scholarships, there are less than 400 enrolments around the country. This figure is likely to drop further as some of these enrolments take up second round HECS offers. This is out of an undergraduate population of over half a million.
Dr Allport went onto say
\"The Government’s recent Triennial Funding Report shows that it has based its entire strategy for higher education on the expansion of fee paying places. Public funding was cut on the basis that fee revenue would cover the shortfall. This is clearly an unrealistic target. The cost of education in the current system can only mean that participation will fall for everyone except the very rich.\"
\"The first round of up front fee enrolments highlights the growing gap between the educational haves and have-nots. This is true of both institutions and students. With over 80% of these enrolments in the older, established Group of Eight institutions, it is clear that only a very small number of institutions stand to gain from up front fees. With public funding being cut at the same time, newer and regional institutions, which are unable to offset some of the funding loss with fees, will suffer the most\", Dr Allport said.
\"It is time for the Government to admit that up front fees are not the answer, and to reverse its decision. Up front fees are not a substitute for public funding. In addition to being the most unfair and regressive source of funding for higher education, it is apparent that people simply aren’t willing to pay such exorbitant fees and, as such, there is no money to offset cuts to public funding.\"