Uni selection on basis of wealth not merit

In response to controversy over easy entry for fee-paying students at undergraduate level (SMH, 4 February 2002), CAPA President Leisa Ridges today pointed out that this practice is also rampant in postgraduate coursework degrees.

"I totally agree that offering fee-paying places with lower entry scores to undergraduate students contravenes the egalitarian ethos of education in Australia. But I also think it is necessary to remind people that the situation is even worse at postgraduate level", said Ms Ridges.

"Up front fees have been the norm for the vast majority of postgraduate coursework students," she explained.

For example, while in 2000 there were 2,650 local students (EFTSU) paying fees for undergraduate places, nearly ten times that number (24,977 EFTSU) were forced to pay up-front fees for postgraduate coursework degrees.

Access to these postgraduate coursework places has been restricted to people who can afford to pay thousands of dollars for their course.

In 2002, the number of publicly funded places will decrease even further. Less than one third of postgraduate coursework places (15,292 of 49,406 EFTSU) will be publicly funded.

The new Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme (PELS) gives postgraduate students the option of deferring the payment of their fees. However, it remains to be seen whether PELS will increase access for potential students who have previously been excluded from postgraduate coursework degrees by their inability to pay up-front fees.

PELS gives universities more scope and incentive to further increase postgraduate coursework fees, which may put off students who cannot afford to accumulate large debts, especially on top of an existing HECS debt.

"Universities have been compelled to increase the number of fee paying places to compensate for significant decreases in public funding since 1996. The new Minister has confirmed that this trend will not be reversed," commented Ms Ridges.

"Access to university education in Australia is no longer just about academic merit, but whether you're able to pay thousands of dollars up front or plunge into substantial debt," she concluded.