Australia, Day 12

More on the threat that student fees and student loans are going up:

higher education is still very much focused on upper socio economic classes.  Only 17% of first year students come out of the lowest economic bracket (Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2014).  The concern that increased student fees (as set by individual universities, and within them, individual programs) may shrink this number, is held off by the continuation of the HECS system that allows lower-income students to take out a loan with low percentage rates.  And the repayment of the loan, with interest, depends on the amount of money a graduate makes -- no repayment with an income of under $50,000, and then the interest apparently increases the more money you make -- and as there is no set time table for the repayment of the loan, this may be a very lucrative money maker for the government.  It also means that the less money you make the longer it will take you to repay the loan, which means that the proposed raise in interest rate will punish folks with lower income as they most likely will take longer to repay the loan.

Later the day, the Centre for Learning and Teaching team graciously added me to their MasterChef Cooking group for the contest.  The contest stressed the international emphasis -- but also that they are struggling with the same food difficulties as in the US -- not enough people take care of their nutrition, in spite of all the great options available.  Apparently, Australia holds the dubious honor of being the second most obese country in the world.  The Masterchef Cook Off was a lot of fun, and our team actually won first place with a mix of cooking, organization, nutrition, persuasive explanation and presentation (one of the team members had smuggled in a bottle of vodka that added a bit of flair, and the decorative plastic apron very much impressed the judges).

Getting ready:  ingredients and recipes

our secret ingredient

everybody hard at work

final presentation

 




A second discussion with a member of the centre brought up such issues as assessment, politics, budgeting, the future of higher education in this country, the very real problems that way too many casuals are doing most of the teaching on campus, that a 20% budget cut will be detrimental to everyone but especially those areas that are supposed to drive innovation.  I mentioned our upcoming visit to some TAFE schools, and the answer was that we should look at it now carefully as the system may be going away in the next few years because of shifts in funding.  Her concern was that this will affect the performing and other arts scenes severely as most folks who are interested in the arts are learning the skills in TAFE.
And for the university funding model -- International students pay full fees, twice the rate of Australian students, and with an annual new enrollment of about 4000 students incoming, this is a major source of income.  If fees go up, these students who are more interested in establishing residency than getting a degree, may go somewhere else.  And with a 25% of student population being graduate students, that group may also shrink because undergraduates may no longer be able to continue on to graduate school.

Bottom line, this system is going through very similar problems as the US system.