Failing university students to be kicked off HECS

Students with low completion rates will no longer be able to access the university loan scheme under changes proposed by the Federal Government.

Students who fail more than half of their subjects would be cut from university loans and subsidies under major shake-up proposed for the higher education sector.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced the changes on Thursday as part of its contentious Job-Ready Graduates laws, which will hike fees for humanities subjects and slash them for science subjects.

The reforms mean students who fail more than half of eight or more subjects in a bachelor course will be unable to access a Commonwealth supported place, HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP.

“These measures will ensure students can’t take on a study load they won’t complete, leaving them without a qualification but a large debt,” Mr Tehan said.

University of Tasmania Bachelor of Arts student Milly Crombie protests against the proposed changes to HECS fees. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Education providers will have the ability to give special consideration to students whose academic performance was affected by illness or bereavement.

Students who transfer to another course will also be given a second chance.

Mr Tehan said the move aimed to ensure all students were academically suitable for their enrolled course and that students maintain a reasonable completion rate from January 2021.

“The lack of transparency of a student’s enrolment has allowed some non-genuine students to enrol and re-enrol at multiple providers at the same time,” he said.

A limit was placed on the amount of debt students could accrue through the government’s HELP scheme in 2018.

Education Minister Dan Tehan says the Job-ready Graduates package will also increase the number of university places forAustralian students. Picture: Gary Ramage

But Mr Tehan said some students had enrolled at multiple providers, had very low pass rates and ballooning debts between $220,000 and $660,000.

“On average these students have passed just one in every five subjects they have attempted,” he said.

Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said it was seeking clarification of the consequences of some of the draft measures.

Ms Jackson said it was in everyone’s interest that students do well, and when they don’t, that a wide range of assistance is available.

“Sometimes students will take on some extra preparatory study and, or change to an entirely different area of study,” she said.

“It is important that these commonsense choices are supported by Commonwealth rules.”

The Nationals raised concerns this week about several aspects of the Job-Ready Graduates legislation, including the fee hikes to social work and mental health courses.

The party said changes would make it harder to get mental health workers in country regions, and had the potential to impact women and mature students looking to upskill and move into higher paid jobs.

Opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said the notable thing about this package was “no one supports it”.

“The government is trying to pretend that there is this big problem with failing students,” she said.

“Of course students who are failing should be given the encouragement and opportunity to succeed at university.

“But the real problem is that at a time when thousands of people are joining the unemployment queues this government is locking people out of TAFE and out of universities and out of jobs.”

The National Union of Students said it rejects the assertion from Mr Tehan that the changes were about “taking action to protect students and taxpayers”.

“This package fails to account for the reasons why students don’t succeed at university,” president Molly Willmott said in a statement.

“Limited access to study, financial instability, education quality, disability, and the ongoing crisis of mental health in the student body are just some of the impediments to student success.

“It is punishment for students who the government unfairly deem as lazy and ill-equipped to access education without proper consideration for their experience, or right to study that degree.”

A national day of action has been planned for August 28, where higher education students across Australia are being encouraged to protest the Liberal Government’s proposed fee hikes and funding cuts.