ABC Fact Check: National Tertiary Education Union correct on university class sizes

An advertisement by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) says there are almost twice as many university students per teacher now than a generation ago.
"In just one generation university class sizes have almost doubled due to chronic underfunding," it says.
"Now Labor and the Liberals want to cut funding even more. What will this mean for our next generation?"
The ad, released on August 12 as a part of the union's $1 million Uni Cuts, Dumb Cuts campaign, calls on viewers to "vote smart" and "vote Greens in the Senate".

• The claim: The amount of university students in a one-teacher classroom has almost doubled since 1990.
• The verdict: The claim is correct. There are almost twice as many students per teacher now than there were in the 1990s. Read more...

Sources

• National Tertiary Education Union, 'Vote Smart' TV commercial
• National Tertiary Education Union, 'Uni cuts, dumb cuts' campaign website
• Department of Tertiary Education, Higher Education Statistics - Staff
• Department of Tertiary Education, Higher Education Statistics - Students
• Universities Australia, Student to Teacher Ratio Tables
• Frank Larkins, Academic staffing trends: At what cost to teaching and learning excellence?

Link to ABC  Fact Check: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-30/nteu-correct-on-university-class-sizes/4917678