Fees (Coursework Postgraduate)

HECS, FEE-HELP, PELS, Full-Fees

Students are Struggling

The crippling effects of the onerous financial pressures faced by Australian students have been revealed by the new report Paying their way: A survey of Australian Undergraduate University Student Finances, 2000, released by the AVCC last week.

"This report confirms what most of us in the sector well know; that the financial burdens involved with studying, without adequate income support measures, are heavy, and often overwhelming" said CAPA President, John Byron.

Senate Inquiry into the Innovation and Education Legislation Amendment Bill 2001 (Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme)

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) is the national peak body representing Australia's 142 423 postgraduate students. It has affiliated postgraduate associations in 33 of Australia's public higher education institutions and in all States and Territories.

Australian postgraduate students fall into two broad categories:
 postgraduate coursework students who number 105 046; and
 postgraduate research students who number 37,374 (DETYA 2001b).

CAPA applauds Innovation Statement's removal of fee barrier

The $1 billion 'loan scheme' announced today by the Prime Minister apparently extending HECS to postgraduate coursework studies is an intervention into the otherwise totally deregulated, multi-million dollar market for these courses.

'CAPA has been a lone voice pointing out that qualified students on low and middle incomes can not afford to undertake the postgraduate courses needed for initial professional entry, in-service development or retraining' said CAPA President John Byron.

Go8's Failure Of Nerve

CAPA endorses the Go8's call for reinvigorated debate and decisive action on higher education and research policy.

However, the Go8 discussion paper, Imperatives and Principles For Policy Reform In Australian Higher Education, fails to effectively grapple with the core issues of private investment in education.

CAPA President, Bradley Smith, said "the Go8 discussion paper is the latest in a string of reports that make a lucid and compelling case for immediate and substantial public re-investment in basic research and, more generally, higher education."

CAPA slams Minister's suppression of Higher Education Council Report

CAPA has hit out at the underhanded way in which the release of a Higher Education Council report Access to Postgraduate Courses: Opportunities and Obstacles has been handled by Minister Kemp.

A hard copy of the report appeared without announcement yesterday and is dated April 2000. However on DETYA's web page it is dated December 1998 and is not listed in their 2000 publications data nor listed by author.

Marketisation and the new quality agenda - postgraduate coursework at the crossroads

Deregulation and competitive market conditions are held by the Minister, Dr Kemp, and some vice-chancellors and commentators, as the only viable policy for addressing the acute resourcing difficulties of Australian universities. The
core of the deregulationist argument in respect of students is that higher education confers a significant private
benefit. Thus, students should ‘invest’ in their access to future wealth.

Syndicate content