Duffers At University

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday January 9, 2007

WHEN universities reopen, there will be record numbers of DUFFS and OUFFS filling the lecture halls. From the myopic perspective of the bean counters, this is welcome news; the more "domestic undergraduate full-fee-paying students" and their overseas counterparts, the better. Australian universities have long been struggling with funding, so getting more students who pay more money helps balance the books. But there is much more at stake than accountancy. Full-fee-paying students are "buying" a better place than they deserve in the otherwise highly competitive university entry queue. By paying the full cost of a degree up front, rather than part of the cost through the HECS loan scheme, students can secure a place with a university admission index ranking up to 18 points lower than their HECS-paying peers. Up to a third of all places now go to those who can pay.

The inequity is obvious. So, too, is the damage to national standards if money, not merit, determines Australia's student mix. But the real question is why funding needs these measures? Australia is the only OECD nation to have reduced spending on higher education since the mid-1990s, against an average increase of 48 per cent. And this at a time of unheard of plenty. The Howard Government has found itself with billions of dollars in surpluses, which it is happy to throw around in tax cuts. But when it comes to the global knowledge race - arguably the key to Australia's future competitiveness - Canberra is doggedly unwilling to invest.

With six universities in the global top 50, Australian higher education is outranked by only the United States and Britain. However, this educational wealth was built up over many decades, and you cannot live off the past forever. Overcrowded classes and falling standards are two common complaints amid our universities' more recent scramble to raise cash. It is naive to assume that Australia could stay at the top of global tables while continuing to cut funding. Australia's economy relies heavily on Asia's recent economic success, the Asian student market included. But as other Western nations spend and Asia channels new money into quality universities of its own, Australia's comparative advantage will disappear.

It is right that Australian students should contribute to the cost of a university education because of the advantages it affords them later in life. However, allowing wealthier, but less able, students to distort the entry system devalues the very education full-fee-paying students are buying. It is true that you get what you pay for. Education is a national priority, and it is up to the Federal Government, not individual students, to make sure it is properly funded.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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