CHARLES Darwin University expects it will lose out on about $5.5 million in Federal money over two years under a funding freeze unveiled yesterday.
The freeze will mean Commonwealth grants to universities will be frozen at 2017 levels and will come into effect from the beginning of January.
CDU Vice Chancellor Simon Maddocks said small, young universities such as CDU would be disproportionately affected by the freeze, as they lacked budgets big enough to absorb the cut to revenue.
With just a fortnight until the changes come into effect, Prof Maddocks said the university would be forced to review its course offerings as it scrambled to find savings.
“If revenue is going down and costs going up, you can’t just keep doing what you’re doing,” he said.
“We will inevitably have to review our capacity to sustain everything we’ve been doing because you can’t keep paying out more and not get the revenue in.”
The university was “only just financially viable” now, he said.
“We all understand the Government has savings to find but education is a significant pillar to the future of the country. High-performing countries invest in quality education systems,” Prof Maddocks said.
The freeze to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme is expected to save the Government $2.1 billion over forward estimates.
Prof Maddocks said it would be less damaging than the cuts initially proposed in May, which were blocked by the Senate. A grants freeze won’t require legislative change.
Under the higher education reforms, students will also be required to repay HELP loans earlier and a new cap will be placed on the HELP loans they can apply for over a lifetime.
Students will start making repayments for loans when they begin earning $45,000, rather than $52,000, from mid-2018.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said higher education needed to stay sustainable.
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