Flat 40pc plan for student funding

December 9, 2011

Education editor Sheradyn Holderhead From: The Advertiser December 09, 2011 12:00AM

ALL university students will pay 40 per cent of the cost of their course and the Government the other 60 per cent under a plan to overhaul funding.
Law, accounting, commerce and economics students pay 84 per cent of their course cost while science students only paid 19 per cent, the Higher Education Base Funding Review Final Report revealed.

The review, headed by former State Cabinet minister Jane Lomax-Smith, stated a blanket 40:60 ratio would be "more equitable" because students would receive the same proportional subsidy regardless of their course choice.

This was one of the 29 recommendations in the report, released by the Federal Government yesterday, which confirmed Australian universities were underfunded. The new ratio was recommended to be introduced only for new students.

"The panel has observed that labour market shortages are not necessarily addressed by modifying student contribution amounts," the report stated.

The Government expects to commence its response next year.

University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor Professor James McWha said it was encouraging to see such an "unequivocal conclusion" that universities were underfunded. "Further analysis will be necessary to determine the impact," he said.