Creating a quasi-market in higher education in Australia

By Margaret Gardner. The introduction of the demand-driven system for undergraduate places in 2012 saw the differences between the government regulated world of public universities and the market-driven world of international and postgraduate education diminish. With the federal budget that difference has almost disappeared. In the demand-driven system, domestic students wanting to attend university can choose which university and which program they wish to take, subject to meeting the entry criteria. The government will now extend this open access to diploma and associate degree places. Access to government funding for these undergraduate and sub-degree places will be extended to non-university higher education providers both public and private. As a result, Australia’s public universities will now operate in what can be described as a quasi-market, rather than as public universities funded by federal government. More...