Call to give uni students refunds

Partial refunds for bad learning experiences would be offered under a radical proposal from former minister Alan Tudge.

Former education minister Alan Tudge. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

University students would be offered partial refunds for bad learning experiences under a proposal from former education minister Alan Tudge, as young Australians report struggling with online classes and out-of-date lectures.

The nation’s universities have faced renewed pressure to improve their teaching amid growing student frustrations with academic staff cuts and the lack of opportunities on campus, despite higher education bodies posting massive post-pandemic surpluses.

Mr Tudge, now the opposition education spokesman, said that where students were not getting what they were promised when they enrolled, “they should receive a partial refund on their university fees”. “Jason Clare should also be putting this pressure on the universities over this and using the levers at his disposal,” he told The Australian.

“In addition, universities should consistently publish the true composition of delivery methods for each unit of study, so that all students have access to information about their course. “Some students will choose purely online courses, and that is fine … But students shouldn’t have to pay for a promised on-campus experience, but not have it delivered.”

The Liberal frontbencher’s comments come after The Weekend Australian revealed half of the nation’s student teachers were dropping out of university courses. It was also revealed on Monday the nation’s top universities were promising to fill hundreds of jobs cut during Covid-19, after spending the last year letting staff go while boosting expenditure on ­advertising and consultants by millions of dollars. Mr Tudge said on Tuesday that he had been getting feedback from parents and students that normal classes were still not back, and that “grainy three-year-old recordings of lectures are being used”.

“We have seen the annual surveys of student satisfaction collapse, and universities themselves reporting lack of engagement, inadequate academic interaction and IT problems,” he said.

“This is not good enough and some faculties are letting our students down. We have full houses at the Opera House and the MCG. There is no excuse any more for normal lectures and activities not to be back.”

The last student satisfaction survey from government education surveyor, the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT), showed ratings of the quality of their entire educational experience among undergraduates fell sharply from 78 per cent in 2019 to 69 per cent in 2020, a fall of nine percentage points.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson said most students and teaching staff had been back on campus “for some time”, but noted the days of overcrowded lecture theatres were “long gone”.

“They were phasing out well before Covid,” she said. “Students are expecting and demanding a different type of learning experience with in-built flexibility. This is no different to the general population, where we are seeing an increased number of people choosing to have flexibility in their working arrangements.”

In response to his Liberal counterpart’s proposal, Education Minister Jason Clare said he was planning to use the Universities Accord – a partnership between universities, staff, unions and students – to “build a long-term plan for our universities”.

“I will work with universities on this to make sure they are fit for purpose and delivering quality education for students,” he said.

Higher education researcher Andrew Norton said partial refunds for students was a “good idea” but it could lead to universities limiting what they offer to students to save money.

“In principle it (refunds) sounds like a good idea, but I’m cautious about how it would play out in practice,” he said. “What it would mean is that universities would be far more careful in what they’re promising.”

He said domestic students did not have a clear way to hold universities to account over having learning delivered in the way they were promised, with regulation being applied with “a light touch” for public universities.

Professor Norton said there were also students who did not want to return to campus, either out of fear for Covid or to get a job.

National Tertiary Education Union president Alison Barnes said it was “rich” for Mr Tudge to make the proposal given his government made some degrees more expensive under its JobReady Graduates reforms to fees. Queensland University of Technology guild president Oscar Davison said there were “considerable issues” with students being taught “recycled content”.