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Tom Martin,Angelina Gu and Victoria Gillespie have all been affected by retrospective fee rises.Credit:Peter Rae

“When the Job Ready Graduates package was passed last year,I was absolutely devastated. Enrolled students were ensured this would not impact them. I quickly found this was not true,” she said.

The university said it shared students’ concerns but was hamstrung by the legislation and was working with the federal education minister to find a solution.

In 2020,the Coalition government announced an overhaul of university funding,dubbed the Job Ready Graduates reforms,resulting in a 113 per cent increase in fees for most arts degrees.

Students enrolled before 2021 were told their lower fees would be grandfathered for the duration of their degree,but fine print in the legislation said this applied only to “ongoing courses”. This meant people wanting to transfer courses would be subject to the new fees.

While the course change rules apply to all universities,University of Sydney students who spoke to theHerald said the problem was widespread through the institution’s new advanced studies streams,which allow students to complete honours,due to a lack of clarity around course requirements.

In 2018,Gu enrolled in a combined Bachelor of Arts (majoring in history) and Advanced Studies (politics and international studies) degree,intending to complete honours in history.

But two years into her degree,which was introduced in 2018,she was shocked to discover through word of mouth that the university would not allow her to complete her honours in history as planned,despite her having completed all the prerequisite subjects.

Instead,she had to transfer to a Bachelor of Arts and Advanced Studies degree,dropping the politics and international studies from the wording of her course. It meant she would be subjected to the 113 per cent humanities fee hikes for the last two years of her degree.

“There was nothing in the course handbook at the time that said you could not complete your honours in your second major,and it was never mentioned at any information session,” she said.

“Those who enrolled in the degree from its 2018 introduction to 2020 who want to pursue honours in their other major must change degrees and incur the new fees purely because of the constrictive internal structures of the university.”

But the university said it had no choice but to require students to transfer courses due to the complex grandfathering requirements under the legislation.

“We have raised the matter with the department and are informed it is working with the new minister to review the issue,” a spokeswoman said.

“The university actively campaigned against the Job Ready Graduates Package before its introduction,and we continue to work to minimise any negative impacts on our students.”

The university said when the 2018 and 2019 course handbooks were released,it had no knowledge of the fee changes and changing majors was of little consequence.

Student Victoria Gillespie,who is enrolled in arts and advanced studies,politics and international relations stream,also found out by chance she would have to transfer course to complete honours in her second major.

“I think broadly no one has had any clarity — everybody is confused,” she said.

A bill was introduced to federal parliament late last year that would have amended the definition of a “grandfathered student”,allowing students to complete honours in a related field without incurring the extra fees. However,it lapsed when parliament was dissolved for the May election.

Education Minister Jason Clare did not answer questions relating to grandfathered fees but repeated previous comments that a review into the Job Ready Graduates package would be conducted later in the year.

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