Adelaide University Vice-Chancellor Warren Bebbington warns of two-tier degree structure

UNIVERSITIES will split into two tiers, offering premium versions of courses to students prepared to pay more amid warnings in which only the rich have access to the best education.

UNIVERSITIES will split into two tiers and offer premium versions of courses to students prepared to pay more, the University of Adelaide says, amid warnings of a culture in which only the rich have access to the best education.

Vice-Chancellor Warren Bebbington told The Advertiser on Thursday that the deregulation of the sector announced in the Federal Budget would lead to “universities within universities”, where students would pay extra in return for more and earlier access to senior teaching staff and the best resources.

Prof Bebbington’s prediction comes as unions and welfare bodies warn that the Federal Government’s move to cut course contributions by 20 per cent, while allowing universities to set their own fees, will lead to a “classist” system where only “elites” have access to the best education.

The sweeping tertiary reforms have also split opinion among SA’s universities. UniSA fears students will be hit hard and the sector’s growth jeopardised.

Adelaide University already offers “advanced” course streams that are more research-focused degrees with higher entrance standards but with no extra costs. It says the “regular” courses have a different focus but are not lower quality.

Prof Bebbington said deregulation would likely lead to universities around the country taking an extra step to vary charges for different versions of courses, potentially offered through separate colleges on the same campuses.

“I think we will see a lot more of that,” he said.

Adelaide University was well placed to capitalise on a deregulated fee system through its new focus on small group teaching, which is resource-intensive, Prof Bebbington said.

“This now means we have a chance to sustain such a vision, because it may mean that’s attractive enough to students that we can charge what it realistically costs.”

In an email to university staff, Prof Bebbington conceded that higher course costs to cover funding cuts would be “greatly unpopular” with students, but necessary to avoid “an eventual collapse of public support for a rapidly enlarging national HELP debt”.

He said costs for some courses might fall as deregulation meant students no longer had to cross-subsidise those in expensive-to-run courses such as medicine, he said.

National Tertiary Education Union state president Kevin Rouse said the deregulation of university fees would make some courses, such as medicine and business, “prohibitively expensive”.

“It may put off students from lower socio-economic groups because they are more sensitive to these issues, so it goes back to a more American or elitist university model,” he said.

Mr Rouse said the new system, to operate from 2016, might simultaneously produce a “race to the bottom” to create cheap, low quality courses in other fields.

UniSA Vice-Chancellor David Lloyd feared universities would be worse off and students would “bear the brunt” of the changes, though he praised moves to broaden access and boost medical research funds.

“The reality of deregulation and competition is that the burden of cost has now been transferred to students and the future growth of the sector has not been assured,” Prof Lloyd said.

“You can’t take out 20 per cent of government funding, reduce indexation of government grants, and implement efficiency dividends, without there being direct impacts on the capacity of higher education to deliver for its students, industry partners and the community.”

South Australian Council of Social Service executive director Ross Womersley said the changes would entrench disadvantage.

“It re-sets up a classist system of education,” he said.

“It will create just those circumstances where children from wealthy households have access to whatever level of education they desire, but if your background is low income, it will be much harder to access university education.”

Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne said equity of access was a cornerstone of the higher education reforms through expanded scholarship schemes.

“This Government will, for the first time in Australian history, provide support to all students, in all higher education institutions, whether universities, colleges or those TAFEs registered as higher education providers,” he said.

“We will also require that universities and other higher education providers spend $1 in every $5 of additional revenue raised on scholarships for disadvantaged students.”

Flinders University welcomed more competition in the tertiary sector and was confident it could continue its strong enrolment growth in a deregulated market, a spokesman said.

He said Flinders would consider equity issues when setting fees.