“the foundation of domestic investment in higher education has been incredibly and frankly, foolishly, eroded”
The “one size fits all” ending of demand driven funding in 2017, puts the viability of the Australian higher education sector at risk- and limits the potential of young South Australians in particular, Uni SA VC David Lloyd warned in an Adelaide speech yesterday.
The state would have reached the national target of 40 per cent of participation in HE in 2020 if the system had continued but without it, “we are unlikely to ever get beyond where we currently sit,” – which is 31 per cent.
“The rules were changed, unilaterally, with a blunt instrument – one size fits all. And as always, blunt instruments bring significant unintended consequences.”
Professor Lloyd set out unpalatable options for SA with a cap on domestic undergraduate places,
* “stop allowing equal and fair access to higher educationLloyd warns end of demand driven funding risks viability of HE system ” – not good given school leaver numbers will grow at twice the rate of total population growth 2022-25
* “game the system” over-enrol in law and accountancy, where students pay 83 per cent of the cost of their degree. “In a state with 6 per cent unemployment and identified skill shortages in areas which do not map to law or accounting that would be at the very least in social engineering terms, irresponsible.”
And he is scathing about arguments that international enrolments, “precariously balanced against geopolitical realities” mean universities “are awash with money.”
“That is nonsense. … The foundation of domestic investment in higher education has been incredibly and frankly, foolishly, eroded, and gets covered with a fig-leaf sound-bite about rivers of gold.”
Professor Lloyd argues the problem, “which has been engineered through policy decisions,” is “fixable,” “but it requires clear articulation of the issue and a willingness to move on from ad hoc intervention to truly joined-up thinking. When a university makes a case for funding it is held up as self-serving. This is a matter of importance for the future competitiveness of this state.”