PresentaWise

University Governance and Regulations Forum

Changing HE reform and regulations, and the impact on universities across Australia

Exploring issues around equity in

Higher Education

Professor Hilary Winchester Provost

Central Queensland University h.winchester@cqu.edu.au

16 September 2014

Outline of presentation

Context –access and

participation 1.

Impact on individuals of

proposed HE reforms 2.

Scholarships – proposals

and possibilities 3.

Impact on institutions of

proposed HE reforms 4.

Regions – proposals and

possibilities 5.

CONTEXT – ACCESS &

PARTICIPATION

Equity

People (students):

• from low socio-economic backgrounds

• who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander

• from rural and isolated areas

• with a disability

• from a non-English speaking

background, and

• women in non-traditional areas of study

and higher degrees

Bradley Review 2008

The nation will need more well-qualified people if it is to anticipate and meet the demands of a rapidly moving global economy … To increase the numbers participating we must also look to members of groups currently under-represented within the system, that is, those disadvantaged by the circumstances of their birth: Indigenous people, people with low socio-economic status, and those from regional and remote areas

Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report, p. xi.

http://w3.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/200

8/FebMarch/images/Bradley.jpg

Bradley reforms

• A range of reforms

• Focus on demand, equity, quality

• Targets:

By 2025, 40 per cent of all 25 to 34 year

olds will hold a qualification at bachelor

level or above.

By 2020, 20 per cent of higher education

enrolments at the undergraduate level will

be of people from a low SES background.

Impact of the Bradley Reforms

Since 2008, student numbers have increased significantly, by a national average of more than 20 per cent, and much more at some institutions.

Many more people have the opportunity to go to university. There have been modest gains in equity, with a slight rise in the share of places for low socio-economic status students (James, 2014).

Impact of the Bradley Reforms

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Low SES

NESB

Disability

Regional

Indigenous

Remote

Transforming Australia’s Higher Education

System report published in 2009

Why Equity Initiatives?

To increase representation of disadvantaged and

under-represented groups

• Increase productivity

• Best use of resources

• Increase competitiveness

• Increase social cohesion

• Foster diversity

• Social justice

Indigenous Australians in northern

Australia • Indigenous Australians have low rates of HE access,

success, retention and completion and lower rates of

workforce participation

• The rates of growth in Queensland Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander communities fastest in the nation (2.6%

p.a.)

• By 2050, half the population of northern Australia will be

Aboriginal and aged under 40

Impact on individuals of proposed

reforms

• Fee deregulation

• Lower Commonwealth

contributions

• Higher individual

contributions

• Higher interest rates

• Lower threshold for

repayments

THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Possible HELP debts at different fee

rates (Sharrock, 2014)

Course type HELP debt

2014 rates

HELP debt

2016 rates to

offset fee

rises

HELP debt if

fee rises at

30%

HELP debt if

fee rises at

30% below

international

Medicine (5 yr) $50,000 $69,000 $117,000 $203,000

Engineering (4yr) $34,000 $55,000 $86,000 $98,000

Education (4yr) $24,000 $29,000 $48,000 $73,000

Nursing (3yr) $18,000 $22,000 $39,000 $55,000

Impact of HELP debts

• Greatest for low paid professionals (e.g. nurses, teachers)

• Women, part-time and mature age students

• Repayments at least double

• Repayment period double – up to 26 years for part-time women

• Debts may never be repaid

• Debts may hinder economic growth e.g. by reducing mortgage eligibility

• Potential adverse workforce impacts

The Proposed Commonwealth

Scholarship Scheme

• To commence 1 January 2016

• Applies to higher education providers who receive

funding under the Commonwealth Grants Scheme

and have domestic EFTSL of 500 or more

• Providers to commit 20 per cent of additional

revenue to support student access, participation,

and success

• Will fund tailored, individualised support to

disadvantaged students

• Will complement the streamlined Higher Education

Participation Programme ($690 m)

Some risks of the proposed

scholarships

BASIC

Risks identified in the National Centre for Student Equity in

Higher Education report include:

• Indigenous and low-SES enrolment targets removed

• The scholarship program is to be funded directly by $1 in

every $5 of increased student fees, which the NTEU argues

would be ‘making students subsidise their disadvantaged

peers by having to borrow more money under the HECS

system to cover higher fees’

• The equity funding is institution-based will not be distributed

evenly and will favour larger universities located in capital

cities, which can afford to charge higher fees

Possible approaches to scholarships

Pooling of scholarship funds and allocation either:

• Directly to students on equity criteria

• Or to institutions with high proportions of equity students

Less severe cut to government funding

Capping of interest rates

Security rather than competition for Indigenous HE funding

THE INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL

2014-2015 Budget – Key Initiatives

expanded choice:

Extending the Commonwealth Grants Scheme (CGS) to higher

education diploma, advanced diploma, and associate degree

courses.

Supporting Australian students to participate in higher education at

institutions that best meet their needs: public universities, private

universities, and non-university higher education providers.

Strengthened support for VET students

Issues Facing Regional Universities

• Potential loss of regional students to

capital city universities which will have

more funds available for scholarships

• Potential loss of revenue as regional

universities will not be able to increase

fees to the same extent as the élite

providers

• Higher infrastructure and research costs

than non-university HEPs

• Potential adverse impact on regional

sustainability, since regional universities

make ‘significant and diverse contributions

to the social, cultural, environmental and

economic development of their regions’

(Regional Universities Network Regional

Impact Study, June 2013).

Issues Facing Regional Universities

Students with multiple layers of equity challenges

Low SES, mature-age, Indigenous, first-in-family, part-time – juggling study, work and family commitments – are concentrated in regional and outer metropolitan areas

Thin regional markets

Greater support needs; higher attrition rates

75% students who study in the regions stay there to work; of those who study in the city 25% return.

Higher Education Attainment

Region % population aged 25-64

with a bachelor degree

Major city 31%

Inner regional 18%

Outer regional 15%

Remote 12%

Regional Universities - Attrition

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HEIs that are members of the Regional Universities Network (RUN) HEIs with headquarters in regional areas HEIs with metropolitan headquarters

Attrition Rate (adjusted) for domestic commencing bachelor students by HEI in 2012 Appendix 4 – Attrition, Success and Retention (Department of Education, 2013)

Regional Universities –remote/rural

Regional Universities – remote/rural

Possible approaches to institutional

disadvantage

A Competitive Regions Fund

Targeted to providers with above-

average intakes from regional,

rural and remote areas

Avoids the definition of ‘regional’

universities

Recognises the financial and

community cost of loss of

students to major cities

A Possible Competitive Regions Fund

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

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HEIs that are members of the Regional Universities Network (RUN) HEIs with headquarters in regional areas

Allocation in $m from a possible fund based on weighted share of all domestic u/g

$m

Opportunities

• New pathways for students through the extension of the demand

driven system to include all HE registered providers delivering any

accredited undergraduate course (diploma, advanced diploma,

associate degrees and bachelor degrees - an estimated 80,000

additional students in higher education by 2018).

• Continuation of the demand driven system, which has been shown

to improve access for students from low SES backgrounds

• Continuation of Higher Education Participation should benefit

universities with high numbers of low-SES enrolments – potential to

use extra funds for scholarships

• Universities which do not increase fees substantially may be

attractive to students reluctant to pay the higher fees that may be

imposed by metropolitan universities

• New opportunities for dual sector institutions

THANK YOU TIME FOR DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS

Exploring issues around equity in

Higher Education

References

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014). Towards a

Performance Measurement Framework for Equity in Higher

Education. Cat. no. IHW 129. Canberra: AIHW.

• Bradley, D., Noonan, P., Nugent, H. and Scales, B. (2008).

Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report.

Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

• Budget 2014-15: Budget Paper No. 2: Budget Measures

2014-15. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

http://www.budget.gov.au/2014-15/content/bp2/html/index.htm

• Completion Rates of Domestic Bachelor Students: A Cohort

Analysis (2014). Commonwealth of Australia: http://docs.education.gov.au/node/35829

• Harvey, A. (2014). Equity Package is No Gift for Regionals.

The Australian, July 09, 2014.

References

• Higher Education Equity in the 2014 Budget (2014). National

Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education. http://www.ncsehe.edu.au/higher-education-equity-2014-budget/

• Kelly, M. (2014). Commonwealth Scholarships Trashed.

National Tertiary Education Union. http://www.nteu.org.au/degreemortgage/article/Mary-Kelly%3A-

Commonwealth-scholarships-trashed-16468

• Kemp, D. and Norton, A. (2014). Review of the Demand

Driven System. Australian Government, Department of

Education. https://education.gov.au/report-review-demand-driven-

funding-system

• King, C. And James, R. (2013). Creating a Demand Driven

System. In S. Marginson (Ed.). Tertiary Education Policy in

Australia. Centre for the Study of Higher Education.

References

• Lee, P. (2014). Regional students will be poorly served if

universities compete solely on price. http://theconversation.com/regional-students-will-be-poorly-served-if-

universities-compete-solely-on-price-29533

• National Commission of Audit. Towards Responsible

Government. Phase One (2014). Canberra: Comm. of Australia.

• Regional Universities Network: Engaging with Regions, Building

a Stronger nation (2013). http://www.run.edu.au/cb_pages/news/RUN_regional_impact_study.php

• Riddle, S., Schmidt, B., Chapman, B., Zyngier, D., Byrne, E.,

Turner, G. and Pitman, T. (2014). Federal budget 2014:

Education Experts React. http://theconversation.com/federal-budget-

2014-education-experts-react-2664

• Transforming Australia's Higher Education System (2009).

Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.