This is the agenda of the Abbott government, the liberal party and the modern right as a whole (more freedom is good right?). It's often said one of the greatest tricks the right ever pulled was to convince the average person to vote against their own interests. Many people today had a discount (or indeed, if you were around in the right era, free) university education and yet, they vote in such a way to deny others this (i've got mine, screw everyone else!).
The universities always tend to be on the side of deregulating anything. Sometimes its good, regulations can be stifling and restrict their ability to operate. Often though, those regulations and government controls are in place for a reason, to ensure quality education is produced and their operating in a scrupulous manner. |
You mention user pays but our education system is already user pays! It varies in how much you pay granted but it ranges from ~30%-80% of your degree. The government picks up a slice and you put the rest on your HECs debt. They simply want to bleed you for more cash. The current system is great because a degree is the same cost no matter where you take it. I remember many people having false notions that UoM was more expensive when i did VCE. In Australia, no one should avoid a university education simply because of the cost and they lack the means. Even if it goes on a HECs debt, it simply means you'll wind up with a mountain of debt.
They apparently need the money but at many universities, education cuts are being made left, right and centre. Take Monash, (like many other uni's) units are being cut, tutorials are being eliminated in favour of less costly alternatives and more. Yet, capital works like pretty gardens and paths are at an all time high.
We really are seeing the Americanisation of our universities. Universities in the USA tend to be much more prettier and expansive, not that this matters much for education of course but it matters heaps for prestige. Prestige is important when you demand a higher fee as well. You end up with a vicious cycle of where you need to do things like this to charge a higher fee but to charge a higher fee you need to spend money to build up your prestige. Many USA universities have large, well funded sport teams or even arenas and that kind of thing. It would be a real shame if we see a focus on shallow things like that here rather than quality education.
It's a bit rich coming from the generation that got their education for fee (including Abbott). You'd think there'd be backlash but i wouldn't be so sure. A lot of people not in universities wont care heaps about this change. Indeed, some people even believe the ideology behind this and actively lobby for these kind of harmful changes, they think its a good thing. The final thing i'm concerned about here is a slippery slope. Once you open the flood gates and uni's get all this extra cash, it will be very very hard to get the cat back in the bag. They'll only charge more and more as well. Keep in mind since students aren't paying for it out of pocket but on HECs, they aren't very price sensitive either. So, you'll have a lot of people racking up massive debts and actually taking up the outrageous prices.
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