UNIVERSITY STAFF APPLAUD LABOR LEADER’S STANCE ON FULL FEE PLACES
May 10, 2007
The National Tertiary Education Union on Thursday welcomed the Federal Opposition leader Kevin Rudd’s statements that Labor remains committed to phasing out full fee university places for Australian students.
“The Union strongly supports Labor’s commitment to scrap full fee paying places for Australian undergraduate students,” said Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President.
“We have major concerns about the sustainability of a system whose growth relies on students incurring substantial debt, up to and exceeding $200,000 for medicine and dentistry at certain institutions.”
“These high fees are beyond the reach of the vast majority of Australian students, as evidenced by the fact that only a very small proportion of domestic university students currently have opted to pay full fees.”
“We also believe it is inequitable that someone on a lower entry score should be able to buy a place at an Australian university when someone else with a higher entry score misses out on a government supported place.”
“Provided there are sensible transition arrangements for the phasing out of full fee places and that universities are compensated for any loss of income, estimated to be in the order of $94 million in 2004, the impact on the higher education sector should be minimal.”
"As we indicated on budget night, the Union is very concerned by the Howard Government’s decision to completely lift the current cap on full fee paying places at universities."
"This sends a strong signal that future growth in the sector is going to come from full fee places, potentially spelling the end of Government subsidised education."
“Australian students already pay the second highest university fees in the OECD and the changes announced in the budget have additional significant equity and debt implications for future students.”
Information and Comment:
Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator: (03) 9254 1910
Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President: (03) 9254 1910