Students Find Cheap Degree Loophole

The Age

Tuesday August 20, 2002

Misha Ketchell, Higher Education Reporter

University students are exploiting a loophole in Australia's qualification system to get cheap degrees, says the latest paper in a Federal Government review of higher education.

The paper reveals that to reduce the cost of a degree, some students are enrolling in TAFE diplomas before transferring to university to complete their course.

The students are able to save thousands of dollars because they are granted credit towards a degree for TAFE subjects that cost much less than equivalent university subjects.

``A student who undertakes a TAFE diploma-level qualification and pays TAFE course fees and then articulates into a degree course would pay significantly less for their qualification than a student who studies at university," the paper says.

But Varieties of Learning, the final discussion paper of federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson's Higher Education Review, does not offer a solution to this anomaly. Instead, it suggests ways to improve credit transfer between TAFE institutes and universities. Under one proposal, TAFEs and universities would collaborate to offer two-year diplomas that would include the option of a third and perhaps fourth year at university to upgrade to a degree.

The paper also proposes a national pilot program to encourage universities and TAFEs to set up joint degrees and suggests that students in vocational courses should be assigned grades rather than simple pass/fail results so it is easier to go on to university.

The paper also proposes that an income-contingent loan scheme, similar to HECS, could be extended to Australia's 1.7 million TAFE students.

Margaret Fanning, executive director of TAFE Directors Australia, said TAFE fees were lower than those charged at university because TAFEs cost less to run.

But she said there were some cases where TAFE students faced significant advance fees and income-contingent loans were necessary. ``We support steps to improve articulation from TAFEs to universities. There are no systemic arrangements and there need to be much better pathways for students seeking to do that," she said.

National Union of Students president Moksha Watts said the loan scheme was a back-door way of increasing TAFE fees. She said TAFEs had attracted students from working class, rural and indigenous backgrounds, but higher fees would deter them.

A spokeswoman for the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee said universities were reviewing the paper but would oppose a national policy framework if it increased red tape.

The federal president of the Australian Education Union, Denis Fitzgerald, said the income-contingent loan scheme would charge TAFE students to raise funds for private schools.

``Dr Nelson announced this year that there was no plan to introduce HECS fees in TAFE but now he sponsors proposals that will lead to massively increased fees," he said.

He said the issue of improved connections and pathways between vocational education and training and the higher education sector was critical and required national leadership, but all the government could offer was a plan to grab more money from students.

Opposition education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said the paper ignored a number of vital issues, including confusion over the university entry criteria for students doing vocational education in senior secondary school.

Dr Nelson will hold a series of forums to discuss issues raised by the review over the next few months. A package of policy proposals will be submitted to cabinet before the end of the year.

© 2002 The Age

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