If you want to study arts and humanities, you will simply have to pay for it yourself.
Key points:
- Education Minister Dan Tehan says the Government want to steer people away from humanities into "job-ready" STEM fields
- For someone studying humanities, the cost of their contribution to the degree is now almost exactly equal to the cost of teaching the degree
- Experts says the system should not penalise students who wish to study arts and leave them with a disproportionate debt level
Experts say this is essentially the effect of the Federal Government's proposed overhaul of tertiary education.
The plan more than doubles the cost of studying most humanities subjects at university, but slashes the cost to students of what the Government deems to be "job-relevant" courses.
It means someone studying humanities or communications will be in the same fee bracket as law students.
An art student's contribution to the cost of their degree is now higher than someone doing medicine.
For someone doing humanities, the cost of their contribution to their degree is now almost exactly equal to the cost of teaching the degree.
'Some students will pay more than their degree costs'
The national president of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), Alison Barnes, said the measures could well steer students away from humanities because of the higher cost.
She noted that at $14,500, it would cost the student as much to obtain their humanities degree as it does to teach it.
"It appears that the Government has set the student contribution to equal the exact average cost of teaching these programs," Dr Barnes said.
"The Government will likely make a nominal contribution to the universities for each student studying in this band, however, the actual costs will likely be covered by these new fees, and will vary by institution.
"So some students will pay more than their degree costs.
The Federal Government last year commissioned a report by Deloitte that looked into the actual costs of teaching programs.
The Grattan Institute's higher education program director Andrew Norton has done analysis of the fee changes based on that report.
His analysis found that the current government contribution for a humanities degree was $6,226, while the student contribution in humanities was $6,804.
Under the Government's proposed change, the public contribution for humanities falls by $5,126, while the student contribution increases by $7,696.
Minister says straight arts degree 'nearly cost me a job'
Education Minister Dan Tehan told the National Press Club on Friday that the Government was unashamedly trying to steer students away from humanities.
This is despite himself having obtained an arts degree.
Asked by a journalist during the press club event whether the Government was "trying to send a price signal" so students think twice about what they study, Mr Tehan answered, "There already was a price signal there, but, yes."
"We know we need more teachers; we know we will need more nurses; we will need more people in allied health; we know we need more engineers; we know we need more psychologists."
Mr Tehan said up until now, engineers and scientists had been subsidising arts graduates.
Now arts graduates would need to start "thinking about the employment outcomes that they are going to get from their degree", he said.
"When I did my arts degree, looking back, I wish that I had done a language," Mr Tehan said.
"It nearly cost me the opportunity of getting a job."
Fee system 'should be neutral'
Mr Norton said, while the Government's aim was to move young Australians towards "job-ready" degrees, it could not control market demand in the post-COVID-19 environment.
"My view is if you want to steer student behaviour, let them know where the jobs are going to be, backed up by marketing," he said.
Students should have the choice to study whatever they wish, and not be penalised down the track when they have to repay the debt, he said.
"It [the system] should be neutral in terms of what students choose to study," Mr Norton said.
"The system should be designed so students take a similar number of years to repay their HELP debt regardless of which course they've chosen to do.
The NTEU's Dr Barnes said humanities, commerce and law teach critical and analytical thinking.
"Being able to assess and solve thorny problems will be even more important in the coming decades than it is today," she said.
"But the real point here is that Dan Tehan is asking a small group of students to bail out higher education more broadly.
"That is unfair and unconscionable."
Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said he was pleased there were now incentives to undertake courses in STEM subjects, but called for "a further increase in funding so that the reduced fees are not at the expense of increased fees in the humanities disciplines".
He noted Thursday's labour force figures showed the unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 was 16.1 per cent — the highest since 1997.
"Young people have been disproportionately impacted by the social, economic and health consequences arising from the global [COVD-19] pandemic," Mr Willox said.
"And experience from previous economic downturns tells us that it takes at least twice as long for youth employment levels to recover."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTIwL3N0dWR5LWFydHMtYW5kLWh1bWFuaXRpZXMtZ292ZXJubWVudC1mZWVzLXRlcnRpYXJ5LWVkdWNhdGlvbi8xMjM3NDEyNNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjM3NDEyNA?oc=5
2020-06-19 20:35:30Z
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