Cash Crisis Eased By $275,000 Degrees

Sun Herald

Sunday July 29, 2007

By Hannah Edwards Education Reporter

UNIVERSITIES are offering degrees to full-fee paying students for close to $275,000.

A new survey has found the University of Sydney has Australia's most expensive full-fee degree, charging $274,416 for a combined bachelor of medical science, surgery and medicine.

The cost for students enrolled in the same seven-year degree under the Federal Government's Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) is just $58,331, the survey prepared by Sydney University's Students Representative Council (SRC) found.

The survey identified the University of NSW's combined undergraduate arts, medicine and surgery degree as the second most expensive, costing $265,440. Sydney University's bachelor of music, medicine and surgery is third on the list, costing international full-fee students $262,752.

SRC figures show full-fee paying students made up 36per cent of the total student population - 341,685 out of 937,617. About 238,000 full-fee students came from overseas.

A growing number of universities are offering full-fee places to help boost cash flow. The Universities Admission Index, the rank required to gain entry into a course, is often lower for full-fee students than for HECS students, fuelling concerns the level of student knowledge is dropping.

The survey examined the cost of full-fee courses for domestic and international students at Australia's major universities, using the 2007 Universities Admissions Centre guide.

"It's getting a bit out of control," Sydney University SRC president Angus McFarland said. "It is making universities a lot more inaccessible for young people. Access is defined by the size of your parents' wallet. That shouldn't determine how many opportunities are open to you.

"The Government is being really irresponsible financially by burdening young people with these debts."

Many students are finding it difficult to pay off their loans, with 53,281 of Australia's 103,579 domestic full-fee payers contacting the Federal Government's loan assistance program in the first half of 2006.

The number of full-fee places reserved for domestic students is expected to climb after the Government announced it was extending the cap on how many places universities could offer.

In May, the Government said it was anticipating up to a 20per cent increase in domestic full-fee places following the changes.

National Tertiary Education Union state secretary Chris Game said full-fee places shut out other students.

"It means there is a diminished opportunity for students who are dependent on HECs places to get into the programs they want to do and for which they are eminently qualified," she said.

© 2007 Sun Herald

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