Universities Australia Ignores Evidence in Changing Stance on Competition with Private Providers

By Courtney Sloane (NTEU National Office). The NTEU is gravely disappointed that Universities Australia (UA) has ignored clear evidence of policy failure in the opening up of Commonwealth funding to all higher education providers.
This formed one of the recommendation of the Kemp Norton review of the demand driven funding system and would see all higher education providers, including for-profit providers, be eligible to enrol Commonwealth supported students on an unlimited basis. 
UA CEO, Belinda Robinson, in her Media Release of 16 April rightly referred to the recommendation as a “policy high wire act”.
Yesterday, however, UA accepted the recommendation so long as it ensured “the safeguarding of the integrity and reputation of Australia’s quality higher education system.”
This is odd given the clear failure of such policies in Victoria to deliver affordable and high quality education and training in the VET sector. More...