Trent Hawkins, Perth
Since the passing of the Nelson legislation, allowing universities to increase HECS fees by as much as 25%, 26 universities have voted to increase their HECS fees. Most have done so by the full 25%.
While the Coalition government claimed the legislation was aimed at providing greater accessibility to university education, recent figures have proved that fees disadvantage students from poorer backgrounds.
The July 5 Melbourne Age reported that “students from the poorest quarter of the population make up 15% of university enrolments”. This figure is as low as 4.5% at the University of NSW and 3% at the Australian National University in Canberra.
The problem is deepening as universities are increasingly looking towards shifting the cost of education on to students as a solution to their funding crisis.
Due to a smaller than expected allocation of HECS places, the University of Western Australia's administration appears to have initiated a discussion on introducing domestic full-fee paying places. This would undoubtedly open the door for richer students to buy their way into courses without the necessary entrance scores.
Melbourne University is set to charge an up-front fee of $35,000 per year for some domestic full-fee places. For example, a medicine degree will cost $210,000 — clearly out of reach of most people.
Students at UWA are already beginning to organise against these attacks. The Education Action Network organised a speakout outside the June 26 UWA senate meeting, and is planning a massive protest at the August 30 senate meeting where a decision on domestic up-front full-fee places is set to be made. To get involved, come to the EAN meetings, every Tuesday at 1pm on the second floor of the UWA Guild building.
[Trent Hawkins is a member of the UWA Resistance club and is active in the UWA EAN.]
From Green Left Weekly, July 28, 2004.
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