Universities hammer industry in tug-of-war over students

A university chief has blasted the construction industry for trying to poach school leavers into apprenticeships through a ‘scare campaign’ against student debt, partying and poverty.

Universities Australia board member Carolyn Evans, left, and Kurt Mills, 24, who ditched his university electrical engineering degree for an electrical apprenticeship instead. Picture: John Feder

A university chief has blasted the construction industry for trying to poach school leavers into apprenticeships through a “scare campaign’’ against student debt, partying and poverty.

As cash-strapped universities struggle with falling enrolments, Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) is recruiting teenagers to train as tradies, with a provocative advertising campaign that mocks university life for gap years, partying and plagiarism.

The ads warn students they will end up deep in debt, and living at home with their parents, if they choose university – but could earn as they learn through an apprenticeship to become a homeowning tradie.

“James got a whopping ATAR and went to uni, where he discovered parties, a scary student loan, and the concept of ‘deferring’,’’ CSQ states in one of the radio ads.

“Lachy chose a different pathway … and he got paid along the way. Lachy made a deposit on a house by the time he was 25. James still lives with his mum.’’

The campaign coincides with a Universities Australia (UA) demand that the federal government offer free degrees, in line with the free TAFE introduced by the Albanese government, in tandem with the states and territories, last year.

Fee-free TAFE funnelled 300,000 Australians into free training courses in fields including nursing, childcare, aged care and information technology last year, with 300,000 extra places in the pipeline this year.

UA revealed last week that domestic student enrolments were on track to fall 1 per cent in 2023-24, following a 5 per cent drop in 2022.

“Any drop in enrolments concerns us, particularly when projections show our university system will need to support 1.8 million students in 2050, up from 900,000 now, to meet ­Australia’s skills needs,’’ acting chief executive Renee Hindmarsh said.

“Education is one of our most valuable assets in preparing Australia for future skills challenges.’’

UA board member and vice-chancellor of Griffith University in Brisbane Carolyn Evans on Monday accused the construction industry of “scaring people out of going to university’’.

“It’s disappointing … and the negative element is unnecessary,’’ she said. “It’s based on untrue and unfair stereotypes.

“We’ve already seen a real ­decline in students from low socio-economic backgrounds going to university. I think it would be a great pity … to scare people out of going to university. Since 2021, university enrolments absolutely have been falling.’’

In NSW, school-leaver applications to universities fell 8.5 per cent between 2017 and 2023, while in Victoria they rose just 1.5 per cent between 2019 and 2023.

Professor Evans said Queensland universities were the hardest-hit, with applications from school leavers and mature applicants plunging 25 per cent since 2019, the year before the pandemic.

She pinned the downturn on higher living costs that make it harder for students to afford full-time study, along with a strong jobs market and an emphasis on vocational training in schools.

Professor Evans said the latest employee earnings data showed that university graduates with a bachelor’s degree earned an average 60 per cent more than a worker without post-school qualifications.

But she called on the Albanese government to reduce the cost of degrees, or increase financial ­assistance to struggling students.

“Some of the degrees now, the fees have gone to a level where it’s discouraging,’’ she said.

“Rationally, if you look at the lifetime benefits, it shouldn’t be discouraging people, but it can act as a bit of a barrier.

“Where things are quite precarious for people, as they are at the moment, I think some ­additional government intervention, particularly for those people who can least afford to not go into the workforce for a period of time, would be helpful.’’

The architect of the CSQ Construction Pathways campaign and general manager of its industry services, Sean Cummiskey, said the industry was desperate for new workers to work on renewable energy, infrastructure projects, housing and flood repairs, with a “10-year runway leading to the Olympics” in Brisbane in 2032.

“We want to attract a bigger share of talent to our industry,’’ he said. “We want the best kids. Once upon a time an apprenticeship or a trade was the ugly cousin of university.

“All industries are competing for talent, and the ‘learn while you earn’ opportunities for construction is a real sell.’’

Mr Cummiskey said the CSQ had targeted 500,000 young people on TikTok, and was visiting private girls’ schools in a bid to ­recruit more women into trades.

National Electrical and Communications Association general manager of training and apprenticeships Tom Emeleus said he was recruiting apprentices who had dropped out of university.

“If you’re going to university, you’re getting a HECS debt and working a couple of part-time jobs pulling beers or waiting tables,’’ he said.

“In the first five years, they’re $260,000 worse off in terms of HECS debts and wages lost.

“If you need a degree for a job, go and do it – but if you don’t know what you want to do, it’s a quick way to waste several years of your life and incur a HECS debt.’’

Kurt Mills, a newly minted electrician, had to pay off a $10,000 HECS debt after dropping out of his engineering degree at the University of Wollongong to work as a low-paid apprentice.

Kurt Mills is earning more than $100,000 a year in his first job as a qualified tradesman. Picture: John Feder

The 24-year-old is now earning more than $100,000 a year in his first job as a qualified tradesman at Barnwell Cambridge in Sydney, where he is helping build a data centre.

“I did a year and a half of my ­degree but it wasn’t for me,’’ he said. “It wasn’t what I expected; I realised I learned faster in a hands-on way.

“I’ve managed to pay off the HECS debt, and I met a mortgage broker yesterday which is exciting and scary.’’

CSQ’s campaign promotes home ownership as a big benefit to tradies, who are not lumbered with HECS debts.

“Sarah got the ATAR she wanted and went to uni, where she discovered hangovers and how to use AI to write an essay without getting busted for plagiarism,’’ one ad says. “Bianca chose a different pathway and got paid along the way. Bianca owns an investment property. Sarah changed her major four times and plans to graduate in 2032.’’

One advertisement features parents call-screening their university son phoning home for money, and another hoses down parental panic that their Year 12 student will get a low ATAR.

“Who cares?’’ the narrator scoffs. “I know parents who still have a 30-year-old sleeping in their single bed, with a Bieber poster on the wall.

“Uni ain’t the be-all. When your kid is 30 and they own their own construction company, and their own house, they’ll thank you.’’

Professor Evans, who is president of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, said the vocational training and university sectors “don’t have to be in a hostile relationship”.

“The systems don’t speak easily or well to each other, as TAFE is run at a state level and universities are run at the federal government level,’’ she said.