Cut-price degrees on offer – but humanities studies to skyrocket

Fees for university studies in job-growth areas will be slashed under a proposal to get Aussie students into work, but many other students will not be so lucky, with course costs jumping from 28 per cent to 100 per cent.

CUT-PRICE degrees will be offered in teaching, nursing, psychology, agriculture and maths, shaving thousands of dollars off the cost of study, but a humanities degree will double in price, in a major university reform to be proposed today.

Education Minister Dan Tehan will announced the significant proposed change today as part of a bid to get universities offering degrees in areas where the skills a needed.

While 60 per cent of students will have cheaper degrees or see no change, there is bad news for law, commerce and humanities students who will have to fork out more.

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Education Minister Dan Tehan will announce a plan to slash university costs for degrees in areas of job growth, while increasing it for some others. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Mr Tehan will deliver his “Job Ready Graduates” address to the National Press Club today, announcing the plan to get students into areas of expected job growth.

“We will incentivise students to make more job-relevant choices, that lead to more job-ready graduates, by reducing the student contribution in areas of expected growth and demand,” he will said.

It will see the student’s cost of studying education, English or nursing drop from $6804 to $3700, the cost of a mathematics or agriculture degree fall from $9698 to $3700, while health and science degrees will dip from $9698 to $7400.

Medicine, dental and veterinary science students will see no change.

But humanities students will have their costs double to $14,500, while law, economics and commerce students 28 per cent to $14,500.

“To deliver cheaper degrees in areas of expected employment growth, students who choose to study more popular degrees will make a higher contribution,” Mr Tehan will say.

“Students will still pay less for those degrees in Australia than they would for a similar degree in similar countries, like the USA and the UK.”

The cost of study will drop for some students and rise significantly for humanities students, under a proposed government scheme. Picture: iStock

The price changes would be managed by changing the amount the Federal Government contributes to the university places.

The changes will be made at a unit level, rather than a degree level, which means an arts student can cut the cost of their degree by choosing electives in maths, English, science or IT.

There will also be an additional 39,000 government subsidised university places offered by 2023 and 100,000 more by 2030, Mr Tehan will announce.