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    Higher Education Summit

    The Australian Financial Review Higher Education Summit will identify and explore bold new ideas in higher education, with a focus on adaptation, resilience and opportunities for institutions to carve out a stronger post-pandemic future.

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    Using housing as a reason to crackdown on foreign students is misguided.

    Blaming students for housing crisis ‘simplistic’, universities say

    A new report finds that conflating international students with the housing shortage is opportunistic and could have profound ramifications on the economy.

    • Julie Hare
    Students at Sydney University: The Albanese government is mindful of damaging the international student industry.

    Government baulks at hard caps on foreign student numbers

    The Albanese government is shying away from a Canadian-style hard cap on foreign student numbers and will opt for more nuanced measures to control migration.

    • Phillip Coorey and Julie Hare
    Melbourne University Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell.

    ‘The right time to go’: Maskell to leave Melbourne University

    Duncan Maskell, the University of Melbourne’s vice chancellor, will step down next year just halfway through his second five-year term.

    • Julie Hare

    Steep rise in student visa rejections ‘scaring applicants away’

    News of the federal government’s clampdown on student visas is spreading far and wide and the US is becoming the destination of choice.

    • Julie Hare

    Mass lay-offs at regional uni as international enrolments slump 90pc

    Federation University in Victoria could be the canary in the coal mine as its international student enrolments dive.

    • Julie Hare
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    April

    Student debt-holders will be hit by a 4.7 per cent hike in student debt on June 1.

    Average HECS debts to rise by $2350 on June 1

    There may be relief for student-debt holders in the upcoming budget, but it won’t come soon enough to prevent a 4.7 per cent increase.

    • Julie Hare
    AFR

    House deposit or HECS debt: what’s best for the kids?

    Soaring student loan debts can reduce first home buyer lending capacity by up to $140,000, according to analysis by RateCity.

    • Duncan Hughes and Lucy Dean
    Growing student debt in a cost of living crisis is having a devastating impact on new graduates.

    Relief in sight as anger over student debt escalates

    Rising student debt is crippling a generation of recent graduates, but the Prime Minister has indicated help is on the way.

    • Julie Hare
    Universities are catching hundreds of students in a new wave of alleged cheating using ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence.

    ChatGPT essay cheats are a menace to us all

    Some universities are increasing face-to-face assessments to discourage AI cheating. Academics should be encouraged to expose the problem, not deterred from fixing it.

    • Updated
    • Pilita Clark

    March

    The universities accord has the strong backing of several teals, including (from left) Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel.

    University reforms get thumbs up from teals, Nationals

    The ambitious 25-year plan to double the number of people with a degree has found many fans in Canberra.

    • Julie Hare
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    February

    Universities can be more that service providers.

    Flaws in the fix for universities

    The Universities Accord is supposed to be a blueprint for Australia’s higher education sector, but there are more questions than answers about how its goals will be achieved.

    • Jennifer Hewett
    Teaching quality in universities is a brake on productivity.

    Poor university teaching ‘a drag on productivity’

    The Productivity Commissioner says there are no incentives inside universities to lift their game and no way for students to know what they are signing up to.

    • Julie Hare
    Education Minister Jason Clare with the universities report on Sunday.

    The universities accord is like one giant déjà vu

    The report has big ambitions. So did the 2008 Bradley review. They are not too dissimilar in scope and intent.

    • Julie Hare
    A university education needs to be accessible to all, says Jason Clare.

    ‘Wealth tax’ for top unis in $10b funding shake-up

    A major review of higher education has recommended a return to demand-driven funding to get more poor students into university; a $10 billion infrastructure fund; an independent tertiary education commission; and bonuses paid based on graduation.

    • Updated
    • Julie Hare
    Jason Clare says ambitious targets for tertiary education are essential to ensure the future economy is robust.

    Universities’ accord ‘blueprint for the next decade’: Clare

    It will need political buy in, not just to get legislation passed in the coming months and year, but over the long-term – over successive governments and economic roundabouts.

    • Julie Hare

    August 2023

    A university degree will be almost mandatory to obtain future work, fundamentally challenging a system that was last reformed nearly 40 years ago.

    How to double the university sector

    A university degree will be almost mandatory to obtain future work, fundamentally challenging a system that was last reformed nearly 40 years ago.

    • Tom Burton
    Incorporating artificial intelligence into tertiary education would come with an upfront cost, but universities will reap the benefits, says Cathy Foley.

    AI use by uni students three times rate of workforce

    Nearly 60 per cent of university students are using artificial intelligence in their studies - three times the rate of take-up in the workforce.

    • Sally Patten
    Vicki Thomson, CEO of the Go8 traditional universities: Criticism that many Australian students aren’t happy with their university experience is an “urban myth”.

    Supersized universities forced to think small

    Australian vice chancellors argue their students get a great education and reject any criticism that ever bigger student numbers detract from the experience.

    • Jennifer Hewett
    The University of Sydney’s Joanne Wright says a levy on international student fee income would be “a distraction” from the lack of proper research funding.

    ‘Envy tax’ on universities dismissed as ‘abhorrent’

    Imposing a levy on revenue raised from international students has been rejected as ‘sending the wrong message’ that could cause those considering Australia to look elsewhere.

    • Euan Black
    Professor Mary O’Kane wants a return to small-group tutorials.

    Uni graduates lack crucial skills and online study is making it worse

    Employers are crying out for graduates with better communication and collaborative skills, according to the woman leading the inquiry into the sector.

    • Gus McCubbing and Tom Burton
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    Declining high school completions is thwarting the need to double tertiary educated students, Education Minister Jason Clare says.

    ‘Keeps me up at night’: NAPLAN data to spark schools overhaul

    Education Minister Jason Clare says the latest results will show the need for major school reform to address the poor results of disadvantaged students.

    • Tom Burton
    The Albanese government should increase student contributions to get more Australians into university without hitting the budget, Michael Brennan says.

    Charge students more to expand uni access: outgoing PC boss

    The Albanese government should increase student contributions to get more Australians into university without hitting the budget, Michael Brennan says.

    • Michael Read and Ronald Mizen
    Education minister Jason Clare says he will remove the politics from the awarding of research grants.

    ‘No political plaything’: Labor to end research grant veto

    Changes to the Australian Research Council will ensure government ministers cannot veto grants at whim.

    • Julie Hare
    Learning that takes place on the job must be recognised and recorded, says the BCA

    Fix education and training to boost productivity: BCA

    Australia’s education system is a major drag on productivity, says the BCA, but it doesn’t need to be.

    • Julie Hare

    Jason Clare’s big university targets ‘totally unrealistic’

    The idea that 55 per cent of young people will have a degree by 2035 is not just unrealistic, but fails to ask students what they want.

    • Julie Hare