If you were thinking about starting a university degree in the future, you’ve got a new fee structure to take into account.
The Government has announced an overhaul of the university fee system , slashing the price of courses it says are more likely to get you a job and hiking up fees for courses in the humanities.
The changes will mainly apply to future students , with no current student to pay increased fees for the duration of their degree. However, if you’re a current student enrolled in a course that is getting cheaper, you’ll pay less from next year.
Many of you told us the changes will affect your choice of study, and for some it will deter you from going to university altogether.
For some of you, this could put an end to your study plans
Drew S:
“As a 43-year-old, I was looking to undertake a degree in philosophy, but if the prices change it would almost certainly rule that out. It is worth considering that there is a large number of mature students who undertake similar studies. Will this change, eliminate, or reduce these students significantly?”
Cathi S:
“I was hoping to go to university as a mature-aged student next year to study sociology and political science. I would have thought that this study would have been classified differently, as job prospects in the public sector are very good. As a person with a disability, who was previously a nurse, these changes are highly discriminatory if you’re not highly STEM educated at school, or if you have a disability.”
Mia B:
Jacinta H:
“I have wanted to study commerce (accounting) for the past three years but couldn’t justify leaving full-time employment to study, even if it meant a better environment for the future … this announcement could affect everything. I’m terrified of the prices being increased too much to be able to justify studying and then being left with the pressure of finding work.”
Lachlan D:
“I’m in my 30s and have been considering further study in literature, philosophy or Buddhist studies. These courses will help me to sharpen my critical-thinking and systems-thinking skills, which are hugely important for my day job at a digital strategist in the NGO sector … This increase in costs, however, makes me question whether I can afford to study again — particularly given I recently became a home owner.”
Edie E:
Lilly M:
“After working for a few years, I was planning to go to university to either study media and communications or look into a bachelor of arts in creative writing … I will now definitely not be attending uni, as it terrifies me to have that much debt to work off.”
But the slashed prices are a positive development for others planning to study
Aiden W:
“Working in agriculture with the idea of a masters in plant breeding in my near future, I’m personally hoping for reduced prices. That being said, the arts plays a vital role in developing the fabric of our society and are in no way a second-class career path.
Kelsie M:
“As a young woman wanting to enter a career in STEM, it’s really important for me and many other young women across the country that the pathway is as accessible as possible. Along with that, living in a remote town will impact my decision to study or not due to the lack of facilities nearby, so it’s important that I consider the most financially viable option.”
Kate E:
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Watch
Duration: 2 minutes 31 seconds 2m 31s
The ANU Deputy Chancellor says universities aren’t a ‘training factory’.
Gillian K:
Mikaela D:
Catelyn P:
Grace G:
Eleanor B:
“I’ve been considering going back to uni to study psychology but was put off by the cost … Now I’m tempted to go back to uni part time. But I also want to say that my humanities degrees turned out to be just as valuable as a ‘vocational’ degree. I landed a full-time job in my field before I even finished my last semester. Every organisation needs people who can write, do research, think critically, and understand concepts like how cultural and historical contexts shape individuals. If anything, skills in the humanities are more transferable and agile than skills in engineering or biology.”
Rosie S:
Lauren S”
“I’m glad I got my arts degree out of the way before this announcement. I am concerned that the Government continues to ignore the value of the arts and humanities which has return in intrinsic and real economic terms. However, I’ve been considering studying psychology, so lowering the price of a vocation that requires a lot of time and commitment is definitely a positive incentive in my decision making.”
Others will reconsider what to study based on the announcement
Kyle B:
Liam O:
Liz M:
Tony H:
“It’s thrown me into confusion. I have to retrain because my neck vertebrae have worn out from years of being a painter and decorator. I was going to do a social studies degree, because of my years as a foster carer. But now they have doubled course fees, I don’t know what to do now. I’m on disabilities, but I wanted to do more with my life. I’m 56 years old so I need to decide now. So confused on what to do.”
Lucas M:
Some of you think the changes are a great idea
Renelle H:
Barry R:
“About time degrees were priced according to their worth. Useless fluff degrees provide almost nil benefit to the economy. [They] create a huge HECS debt which will never be paid back. Targeted reductions in fees where there is the most need, and this should include TAFE, are the smart way to go.”
Kathryn G:
Jake G:
“This is fantastic. During my time studying commerce at uni, so many people were studying useless degrees with no job prospects. Their plan after finishing uni was to study again, doing another similar degree. It makes sense for people to be studying courses that contribute to society, especially when the Government is subsidising it.”
Shay K:
Simon P:
Pokeer L:
Jean B:
But many others think the fee overhaul is ‘appalling’
Lachlan P:
“Truly devastating news. What the world needs now more than ever is for young people to learn to think deeply, critically, and creatively about the complex issues we face as a global community, to challenge the status quo, learn from the past and understand other cultures and points of view.”
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Duration: 3 minutes 17 seconds 3m 17s
Dan Tehan says there is evidence fees can influence students’ subject choices, despite studies to the contrary.
Patrick N:
“For STEM students such as myself, we have far more contact hours and workload than students studying an arts degree, for example. This means we contribute far less to student life on campus, holding the university accountable, and life outside university … Student unions, collective and clubs and societies are integral to a positive educational and social experience at uni.”
Robert H:
Monika O:
David D:
“This an appalling idea. Prejudicing young people because their ability and passion are in the humanities, and rewarding those whose ability and passion just happens to be what business thinks they require now for jobs … Many businesses are actually crying out for workers with critical thinking and creative skills.”
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Emma J:
“Doubling humanities degree costs is appalling. These are the only degrees where you are taught to think for yourselves and where ideas and innovation are encouraged. Without social and political sciences and history and Indigenous studies, we’re going to have a workforce which can only follow rules and can’t think for themselves.”
Shane H:
Carolyn J:
“Humanities subjects are foundational and help to produce people who understand the history and nuances of our society. They teach people how to communicate ideas, how to analyse language, image and thought. The arts themselves provide beauty, expression, reflection, critique, examination. They are vocations — sometimes compulsions — not job choices.”
Johny M:
“More than doubling the cost of humanities degrees is not only sad, but grossly unfair. They teach critical thinking, research skills, and broaden our worldview. It is easy to rip into them for not being ‘job specific’, but that ignores they are the scaffold to everything we know about our society.”
Stefan P:
This is absolutely tragic. The choice of which course to pursue within higher education should be entirely dependent on a student’s desires, not their financial situation and the whims of the economy. Besides which, if the Federal Government acknowledges the difficulty of finding work as an arts student, then saddling them with even more debt is simply counterintuitive.”
Matt B:
“I’m a Medsci student progressing into medicine, arguably an ‘in demand’ degree. However … the arts/humanities allows scientists to put the research in perspective of humanity and thus allows us to better communicate to the public and (science-ignorant) governments why we do what we do. Arts isn’t a second thought; it’s a priority, more so than learning chemistry and biology is for a doctor, because without the arts, we cannot communicate and appreciate the meaning of cancer beyond it being a mutation of cells.”
And finally, many of you past humanities grads credit your degree with setting you up with life and career skills
Olympia S:
Lili K:
“I’m just about to finish my honours degree in politics, and it has been the most rewarding and interesting years of my life. I know if this price hike happened when I was at my poor public country high school, I would have had to take a different path.”
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Jenny M:
Anna G:
“I have an arts degree. I work for the Government in a relatively senior role. My degree gave me essential critical-thinking, analytical and writing skills that equip me to do my job daily. It’s frustrating to know that the Government thinks that my degree isn’t ‘job focused’ when I use it to support and deliver its policies and programs.”
Rachel T:
“Humanities courses such as the ones I took in politics and international relations, as well as law, are monumentally helpful to understanding the way our world works today, and into the future … How are our next generation of leaders meant to understand the rising nationalism, rising populism, and the threats to democracy itself if they are actively discouraged from learning about it?”
Lana G:
I am a business/politics (humanities) student. I am the first in my family to attend university, and all this does is make university (for the most part) unattainable. My degree is now going to be on par with the cost of a medical degree … Poorer kids are going to move away from economics, humanities and law.”
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Ben W:
I am a later-year international security studies student at the ANU, with a focus in cyber interference and espionage into our democracy. [Yesterday Prime Minister] Scott Morrison announced that Australia was facing an unprecedented level of cyber interference into our democracy by a state actor. At the same time Scott Morrison’s Government has today announced that the cost of a degree defending Australia from these threats — my degree — has doubled.”
How much students can expect to pay:
Band
Discipline
Annual cost
1
Teaching, clinical psychology, English, maths, nursing, languages, agriculture
$3,700
2
Allied health, other health, architecture, IT, creative arts, engineering, environmental studies, science
$7,700
3
Medical, dental, veterinary science
$11,300
4
Law & economics, management & commerce, society & culture, humanities, communications, behavioural science
$14,500
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