Research postgraduates to pay for the privilege

By Geoff Maslen. As well as generating alarm among Australia’s academics with his reform plans for higher education, federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne has caused consternation among research masters and doctoral students by proposing to make them pay fees for the first time.
Under the new scheme, planned to be adopted in 2016, postgraduates undertaking research degrees would be charged up to A$3,900 (US$3,600) a year. At the same time, Pyne wants to cut A$175 million from the government’s research training scheme which enables universities to enrol research students without them having to pay fees. Read more...