Students, staff up in arms over mooted changes to HECS funding

WHEN arts-economics student Alex McLaren was starting university, the last thing on his mind was how much his debt would be.

FIVE years ago when arts-economics student Alex McLaren was wondering what to study at university, the last thing on his mind was how much his HECS debt would be. "It just wasn't a consideration. I chose my course out of interest," he said.

A product of the public school system with a university educated mother, Mr McLaren has been surprised by the vitriolic reaction on social media to yesterday's Grattan Institute report, which proposes the substantial removal of government subsidies for university study. The report, Graduate Winners by Andrew Norton, argues that given the high personal benefits stemming from university study, it makes economic sense to decrease subsidies in most disciplines.

Administrators and students alike have hit out, with Central Queensland University vice-chancellor Scott Bowman likening it to a "funding regime of which North Korea would be proud".

"This report is an absolute irrelevance to a university like ours with large number of disadvantaged and mature age students," Professor Bowman said. "It is unworkable for a developed nation like Australia and would make our educational performance match our gold medal tally."

Australian Catholic University vice-chancellor Greg Craven slammed the report's focus on numbers while failing to recognise the wider community value of higher education. "This seems to be a calculator with a personality disorder," Professor Craven said.

Under the current system, subsidies vary according to discipline. For instance, a science student pays $4250 a year, while the government contributes $19,482. Law, economics, accounting and commerce students pay $9425, while government puts in $1861 (16 per cent), medical and dentistry students pay $9425 but the government contributes $20,284.

As such, the government will have paid $5580 towards Mr McLaren's education when he graduates at the end of the year. He will also have accumulated a HECS debt of around $40,570 which he will start repaying when his salary reaches $49,000. But under the Grattan model, Mr McLaren's debt would be $100,000.

Colm Harman, an educational economist from the University of Sydney, said the logic of charging students different fees based on the public returns on their degree was "extremely challenging".