Govt’s university fee changes ‘nutty’

Despite a global pandemic and soaring unemployment rate, the government is making it harder for students to get into university and more expensive when they do, according to Shadow Education Tanya Plibersek. The federal government has overhauled the cost of university fees from next year, with price of a humanities degree soaring by 113 per cent while mathematics and agriculture courses will undergo a 62 per cent price decrease. The move is part of a government plan to encourage employment in sectors that would boost the nation’s post-pandemic economy. No current student will be impacted by the changes, but future students will if the government’s proposal passes parliament. Ms Plibersek told Sky News this policy is “nutty” and will encourage universities to offer more humanities courses. “It doesn’t do what it says it is going to do, what it does is make it harder to make a place at university and more expensive if you do,” she said. "They have said they want more people to study maths, science, engineering and so on, the universities themselves say the way the funding has been redesigned makes it less likely those courses will be taught at Australian universities.”

from National | Daily Telegraph https://ift.tt/2BKkolq