Universities ‘must refund fees for inferior degrees’

Universities would be forced to pay refunds under a federal opposition proposal, as the government tightens university governance to safeguard students and staff.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson is demanding the right to refunds for poor-quality university degrees. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Universities would be forced to pay refunds for dodgy degrees under a federal opposition proposal, as the government tightens university governance to safeguard students and staff.

The Albanese government’s Universities Accord review proposes giving the commonwealth ombudsman stronger powers to deal with student complaints.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson on Friday demanded a new student ombudsman with powers to force universities to pay back the study loans of students who have been given a substandard education.

She said universities must be required to publish the full cost, course outline, proportion of online teaching, completion rates and employment outcomes of every degree on their websites so students can compare courses ­before they enrol.

With inflation adding $1500 a year to the average debt of university graduates, Senator Henderson criticised the high dropout rates in some courses.

She said students must be refunded their tuition fees if universities set low academic entry standards to lure them into courses, then fail to help them succeed.

“Universities need to be much more worried about students instead of their revenue model,’’ she said. “The completion and dropout rates are completely untenable, and universities have got to start to focus on their own performance, rather being so focused on how much revenue is driven into the institution by enrolling students.

“Students need far easier ­access to refunds,” she continued.

“If universities do not deliver quality degrees, why should students be saddled with enormous debts while the universities get off scot-free with no accountability or responsibility for the hardship they’ve caused?’’

A recent Centre for Independent Studies analysis of degree completion rates has found more than half of students drop out of degrees at the University of Southern Queensland, the University of New England, Charles Darwin University and Southern Cross University.

Averaged across all universities, one in three students drop out of degrees in early childhood teacher education, social work and tourism.

Senator Henderson said universities must be held to account for so many students accumulating Higher Education Loans Scheme (HELP) debts with no qualifications to show for it.

The accord – a year-long review of university funding, gov­ern­ance, teaching and research – has called for a “stronger voice’’ for students to “hold institutions to account if they are dissatisfied’’.

Its report says universities are required by law to have mechanisms to address student complaints. But it reveals complaints processes can be “complex, slow, and unclear to students, especially under stress’’.

The accord has proposed a “stronger role in student complaints’’ for the existing commonwealth ombudsman, who deals with complaints involving federal government departments and agencies.

Education Minister Jason Clare highlighted this recommendation when launching the accord’s interim findings this week, ahead of final recommendations at the end of the year.

He also mentioned a National Student Charter, similar to New Zealand’s charter which sets out the rights and responsibilities of universities and students.

The accord panel warned that too much short-term and casualised work “threatens the quality of institutions and is undermining the long-term capability of the teaching, research and innovation workforce’’.