NFF cheers fee shake-up, but university takes revenue hit
The National Farmers’ Federation has welcomed university funding reforms that support agriculture, but the recent fee shake-up may snatch even more revenue from an already struggling sector.
THE farming industry has reason to celebrate the Federal Government’s higher education funding shake-up, however leaders in health care, engineering and university sectors have voiced concerns about the ramifications.
The plan, announced by Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan last Friday, is designed to create more job-ready graduates by incentivising courses in sectors with high employment growth.
In a statement released yesterday, University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell said the university would be about $3 million worse off per year due to the funding changes, if its current student profile remained the same.
He added that the projected annual loss was “a small amount of money compared to the approximately $300 million that we will very likely need to find every year for the next three years because of the fall in our revenue” as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This $3 million shortfall might well be mitigated once we understand how other elements of the funding package, such as the National Priorities and Industry Liaison Fund, will operate and arrangements around transitional funding become clearer,” Professor Maskell said.
“We are well set up to offer our students maximum flexibility because of how our curriculum works and we remain committed to ensuring that they are well-equipped to take their place as future leaders in a time of rapid transformation.”
The new funding structure increases student fees for humanities, law and commerce degrees. Student fees for STEM degrees including mathematics, engineering and agriculture will decrease. Students who study teaching, nursing, clinical psychology, English and languages will also pay less for their degrees.
National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar welcomed the news that agriculture degrees would be more affordable. He said the fee reduction was aligned with the NFF’s plan to grow Australian agriculture.
“We know that the size of the job market far exceeds the supply of agriculture graduates,” Mr Mahar said. “The NFF’s Road map to a $100 billion agriculture sector by 2030 recognises how critical skilled workers are to the sector’s success and includes a goal to double the number of tertiary and vocational agriculture graduates by the same year.”
Mr Mahar said by reducing the cost of studying a higher degree in agriculture, Minister Tehan’s Job Ready Graduates Package would incentivise students to pursue a career in agriculture or to upskill to meet the evolving needs of the sector.
He also praised Mr Tehan’s focus on growing regional universities, and improving educational outcomes for regional, rural and remote students.
“Our regional universities make a significant contribution to regional economies, to the educational opportunities available to regional students and to the vibrancy of our regional communities,” he said.
The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association also welcomed the changes to nursing degrees, but warned of a bottleneck caused by too few placement opportunities for student nurses.
APNA president Karen Booth said the government overhaul would lower the annual cost of a nursing degree by 46 per cent, to $3700, from next year.
“This is a major boost to our profession,” she said. “Increasing the workforce pipeline is an important first step that needs to be supported by quality student placements, particularly in primary health care settings such as general practice and aged care.
“Even now there simply aren’t enough placement opportunities for student nurses in primary health care … This issue needs to be urgently addressed given the existing backlog in nursing placements created by COVID-19.
“We have literally hundreds of nursing students waiting in the wings for placement opportunities so they can complete their education.”
The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering president Hugh Bradlow said more affordable science, mathematics, engineering and technology degrees would help put Australia on competitive footing internationally, however, he also flagged potential negative effects on interdisciplinary studies.
“Support for teaching and research across the breadth of tertiary disciplines including the arts and humanities, is important to create a rounded and balanced workforce capable of the interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving necessary for a thriving 21st century economy,” he said.
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