Universities have for the first time outlined their objections to the government's funding overhaul.Credit:Steven Siewert
The Innovative Research Universities,a grouping of seven institutions including La Trobe University and Western Sydney University,has urged the government to water down a central feature of the package:thesteep fee rises for some courses alongside discounts for disciplines deemed "job-relevant".
Under the overhaul,humanities courses will more than double in price,with a full year of study costing $14,500. Fees for law and commerce will increase 28 per cent to $14,500. Teaching,nursing,clinical psychology,English,languages,maths and agriculture courses will drop by 46 to 62 per cent,costing $3700. Subjects will fall into four student fee clusters,from cheapest to most expensive,based on national job priorities.
In its submission to the government,the IRU group said the shake-up should be reworked"so that no unit is subject to a charge higher than the current highest rate,and raise the lower rates proposed to offset this". This suggested change would not cost the government more money.
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The package also cuts direct government funding for teaching budgets,with the money redirected to other university spending initiatives. The IRU rejected this proposal,saying"there is less and less comfort that the funds saved are all being returned in other ways".
The group also said funding allocations for science,engineering,maths and agriculture subjects should not be cut given the government had highlighted them as priority vocations.
The IRU said the government's changes would not be enough to keep up with growing demand for university in the long term,meaning more support was needed. The government says the package will fund an extra 39,000 places by 2023 and 100,000 by the end of the decade.