HECS-style loans back on the agenda
The Rudd Government has opened up the possibility of HECS-style loans to pay for student services, nine months after this was ruled out by its former education spokesperson.
Income-contingent loans is one of three options outlined by the federal government in a discussion paper on restoring student services on university campuses in the aftermath of the Howard Government’s voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation.
Direct government funding of student services is another option raised in the paper, which was launched last week by youth and sport minister Kate Ellis.
A third option would see funding responsibilities shared. Universities would pay for services such as sport and child care, while the government would provide student advocacy services “similar to the way it funds community legal centres” .
The paper invites submissions on funding options and what student services, amenities and advocacy and representation arrangements would be appropriate.
It also invites discussion on the financial impacts of VSU and changes in student service provision, representation and advocacy since VSU was introduced in mid-2006. The deadline for submissions is 11 March.
“Key issues concerning post-VSU funding options include additional funding from government, and what form this should take,” the paper says.
“A relevant issue is how much funding should reasonably be raised via user funding. If a HECS-style loan scheme was followed, the debt could be rolled into the existing HECS debt.”
This approach was “absolutely” ruled out last year by former Labor education spokesperson Stephen Smith. “I am not considering a HECS-style arrangement, particularly a compulsory HECS-style arrangement,” he said during an impromptu press conference on 22 May last year.
“If students want to voluntarily take part in organisations or groups which access these services, then it may be appropriate for them to make a contribution. But the primary obligation in my mind rests with the universities and the Commonwealth.”
The discussion paper said the HECS-style approach was one of “various options” raised by the National Union of Students (NUS). It said the NUS had not endorsed any particular model.
This approach was echoed last week by treasurer Wayne Swan, who was asked to rule out imposing “a new tax, levy or compulsory fees” on university students. “I am not ruling anything in or out, because we are in a budget process,” he told Parliament.
Ellis’s spokesperson said the minister was listening to the community and keeping all ideas on the table. He said the primary focus of her imminent two-week national tour would be to meet stakeholder groups to discuss student services.
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomed the discussion paper and the government’s consultative approach. “I think there’ll be a lot of innovative suggestions on how we cope with the VSU impact,” CAPA president Nigel Palmer told Campus Review.
“Will there be some sort of deferred HECS-style loan arrangement? That looks likely, but there are complicating factors. Not all students are enrolled in Commonwealth-supported places. What happens in the case of a full-fee paying student or one with a HECS exemption?
“As people start addressing the detail of some of these proposals, they’ll see they’re not as straightforward as you might think at first glance. There will be strengths and weaknesses to any model.”
Palmer said CAPA would outline the proposals it supports in a response to the discussion paper, due out shortly. While he welcomed Ellis’s role in managing the consultation, Palmer also pointed out that not all student services fell neatly into either of her portfolio responsibilities of youth and sport.
“Childcare is a classic example. All campuses have mature aged students and they were big users of the services formerly supported by the compulsory student services fee,” Palmer said.
The Democrats’ higher education spokesperson, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, also welcomed the discussion paper’s broad focus on “not just sport and recreation – like the Coalition Government’s measly VSU Transition Fund”.
“We acknowledge deferred student contributions as one idea in the mix, and while it has some natural advantages, I suspect there would be more support if there were equal or greater reductions in HECS fees,” she said.
NUS president Angus McFarland told ABC Radio that while he welcomed the consultation, he had some concerns. “There doesn’t seem to be any clear timeframe as a part of the review,” he said.
McFarland said he wanted the government to commit to putting a new system in place before 2009 to stop the closure of more student services.
Ellis’s spokesperson told CR the government was aiming for a “quick turnaround”, with a “way forward” on student services expected to be outlined in the first half of this year.
VSU carnage
The Howard Government didn’t survive to undertake its review of VSU, planned for mid-2008. But several organisations did their own impact reviews in 2007.
They included Australian University Sport and the Australasian Campus Union Managers’ Association (review published in May), the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (August), the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts (September) and the National Union of Students (October). Findings included:
Services
• More than 400 sport, advocacy and other services such as childcare closed down or forced to contract out.
• At least eight universities left without independent postgraduate student associations.
• Around 30 per cent of postgraduate student organisations unable to provide advocacy services.
• Higher charges for students to use services and facilities – with price hikes generally above CPI.
• 12,000 fewer students in university sport clubs – down from an estimated 72,000 in 2005 to 60,000 in 2007.
• 14,000 fewer members of social and cultural clubs.
• 75 per cent of students receiving no bene
• t from VSU transition funding.
Jobs
• 1000 jobs lost – 30 per cent of the student services workforce.
• At least 25 student organisations experiencing substantial or total job losses.
• Staff numbers halved across 20 postgraduate student organisations – seven of them reporting no staff at all.
Funding
• $166 million a year lost in amenities, services and membership fees – down from $179 million to $13 million.
• A 40 per cent drop in direct funding of university sport clubs.
• At least eight postgraduate student organisations receiving less than 50 per cent of their pre-VSU funding – four of them less than 5 per cent.
• Only two student guilds managing to become self-funding, with only two other student organisations likely to achieve self-sufficiency in the next couple of years.
Income-contingent loans is one of three options outlined by the federal government in a discussion paper on restoring student services on university campuses in the aftermath of the Howard Government’s voluntary student unionism (VSU) legislation.
Direct government funding of student services is another option raised in the paper, which was launched last week by youth and sport minister Kate Ellis.
A third option would see funding responsibilities shared. Universities would pay for services such as sport and child care, while the government would provide student advocacy services “similar to the way it funds community legal centres” .
The paper invites submissions on funding options and what student services, amenities and advocacy and representation arrangements would be appropriate.
It also invites discussion on the financial impacts of VSU and changes in student service provision, representation and advocacy since VSU was introduced in mid-2006. The deadline for submissions is 11 March.
“Key issues concerning post-VSU funding options include additional funding from government, and what form this should take,” the paper says.
“A relevant issue is how much funding should reasonably be raised via user funding. If a HECS-style loan scheme was followed, the debt could be rolled into the existing HECS debt.”
This approach was “absolutely” ruled out last year by former Labor education spokesperson Stephen Smith. “I am not considering a HECS-style arrangement, particularly a compulsory HECS-style arrangement,” he said during an impromptu press conference on 22 May last year.
“If students want to voluntarily take part in organisations or groups which access these services, then it may be appropriate for them to make a contribution. But the primary obligation in my mind rests with the universities and the Commonwealth.”
The discussion paper said the HECS-style approach was one of “various options” raised by the National Union of Students (NUS). It said the NUS had not endorsed any particular model.
This approach was echoed last week by treasurer Wayne Swan, who was asked to rule out imposing “a new tax, levy or compulsory fees” on university students. “I am not ruling anything in or out, because we are in a budget process,” he told Parliament.
Ellis’s spokesperson said the minister was listening to the community and keeping all ideas on the table. He said the primary focus of her imminent two-week national tour would be to meet stakeholder groups to discuss student services.
The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomed the discussion paper and the government’s consultative approach. “I think there’ll be a lot of innovative suggestions on how we cope with the VSU impact,” CAPA president Nigel Palmer told Campus Review.
“Will there be some sort of deferred HECS-style loan arrangement? That looks likely, but there are complicating factors. Not all students are enrolled in Commonwealth-supported places. What happens in the case of a full-fee paying student or one with a HECS exemption?
“As people start addressing the detail of some of these proposals, they’ll see they’re not as straightforward as you might think at first glance. There will be strengths and weaknesses to any model.”
Palmer said CAPA would outline the proposals it supports in a response to the discussion paper, due out shortly. While he welcomed Ellis’s role in managing the consultation, Palmer also pointed out that not all student services fell neatly into either of her portfolio responsibilities of youth and sport.
“Childcare is a classic example. All campuses have mature aged students and they were big users of the services formerly supported by the compulsory student services fee,” Palmer said.
The Democrats’ higher education spokesperson, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, also welcomed the discussion paper’s broad focus on “not just sport and recreation – like the Coalition Government’s measly VSU Transition Fund”.
“We acknowledge deferred student contributions as one idea in the mix, and while it has some natural advantages, I suspect there would be more support if there were equal or greater reductions in HECS fees,” she said.
NUS president Angus McFarland told ABC Radio that while he welcomed the consultation, he had some concerns. “There doesn’t seem to be any clear timeframe as a part of the review,” he said.
McFarland said he wanted the government to commit to putting a new system in place before 2009 to stop the closure of more student services.
Ellis’s spokesperson told CR the government was aiming for a “quick turnaround”, with a “way forward” on student services expected to be outlined in the first half of this year.
VSU carnage
The Howard Government didn’t survive to undertake its review of VSU, planned for mid-2008. But several organisations did their own impact reviews in 2007.
They included Australian University Sport and the Australasian Campus Union Managers’ Association (review published in May), the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (August), the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts (September) and the National Union of Students (October). Findings included:
Services
• More than 400 sport, advocacy and other services such as childcare closed down or forced to contract out.
• At least eight universities left without independent postgraduate student associations.
• Around 30 per cent of postgraduate student organisations unable to provide advocacy services.
• Higher charges for students to use services and facilities – with price hikes generally above CPI.
• 12,000 fewer students in university sport clubs – down from an estimated 72,000 in 2005 to 60,000 in 2007.
• 14,000 fewer members of social and cultural clubs.
• 75 per cent of students receiving no bene
• t from VSU transition funding.
Jobs
• 1000 jobs lost – 30 per cent of the student services workforce.
• At least 25 student organisations experiencing substantial or total job losses.
• Staff numbers halved across 20 postgraduate student organisations – seven of them reporting no staff at all.
Funding
• $166 million a year lost in amenities, services and membership fees – down from $179 million to $13 million.
• A 40 per cent drop in direct funding of university sport clubs.
• At least eight postgraduate student organisations receiving less than 50 per cent of their pre-VSU funding – four of them less than 5 per cent.
• Only two student guilds managing to become self-funding, with only two other student organisations likely to achieve self-sufficiency in the next couple of years.