They join their arts and social science colleagues in calling for change to the previous government’s Job Ready Graduate structure

The Australian Council of Deans of Science joins demands for changes to undergraduate course fees.

The deans state that while the previous government’s Job Ready Graduates policy reduced student fees for STEM degrees it also cut the Commonwealth’s contribution to teaching many of them,  “making these expensive programmes harder to deliver and maintain.”

“This ironically made it less attractive for universities to offer additional STEM places, compared to other disciplines, for which the overall margins are better.”

And they back the Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities who want an end to the JRG fees which make their courses (along with law and business) the most expensive, $14 600 a year, for students (CMM May 27) while universities receive $1109 per student place.

In consequence, the science deans deplore, many arts, social sciences and humanities degrees, “have been disincentivised at the demand side” while reduced margins “make it less attractive” for universities to teach STEM.  Student HECS payment for many STEM courses is $8021 and the Commonwealth’s contribution is $16 396.

In Features, Conor King argues changing JRG fees and funding would be more  complicated than may appear.

And read Vin Massaro’s analysis in CMM of the previous government’s basis for the JRG finding rates.