Students fight rising fees

University students nationwide are uniting in a battle against the deregulation of fees, warning it will increase charges and make tertiary education unaffordable.

Students across Sydney protested yesterday as part of their planned National Day of Action against fee deregulation. There is widespread angst over the removal of federal caps on fees, effectively allowing universities to set their own charges.

Jade Tyrrell, President of the National Union of Students, warned strongly of the potential dangers. “Deregulation really flies in the face of the importance of education as a public benefit,” she said.

The protests follow calls for change from the Business Council of Australia (BCA) amid fears of fee deregulation under a future Coalition Federal Government.

Jennifer Westacott, Chief Executive of the BCA, announced her support for fee deregulation in a speech to the Universities Australia Higher Education Conference this year.

“If you deregulate quantity but not price, you’ll discourage diversification of service,” she said.

University places were deregulated last year in a bid to increase the number of Australians with bachelor degrees to 40 per cent by 2020, a recommendation of the Bradley Review into national tertiary education standards.

But Ms Westacott said that without deregulating fees, the universities will be unable to offer high-quality, globally competitive education.

Professor Fred Hilmer, Vice Chancellor of UNSW and chair of the Group of Eight top universities, believes fee deregulation in courses where students graduate into high-earning professions is necessary.

Mr Hilmer was unavailable for comment, but is on record as supporting deregulation of fees and places, and backing the market-based approach.

Professor Hilmer and Ms Westacott have both stressed the need for fairness to ensure continued access for low-income students to university. But the student unions believe higher fees will act as a deterrent to most families and will drastically limit access to higher education.

According to NSW Rally organiser and Officer for Education, Kate Alway, most graduates already face a decade in debt.

“I think it’s rather silly to be encouraging us to not plan for the future and to take on unmanageable debt. HECS is a band-aid. It doesn’t solve problems; it just allows us to get deeper into them,” she said.

Student unions and collectives reject the idea deregulation will encourage variety and competition, and have pointed to the 25 per cent deregulation measures implemented in 2005, when the majority of universities nationally raised fees to the maximum point possible.

“I just don’t think students can pay or should pay any more; it’s a government responsibility to take the quality concerns seriously,” said Ms Tyrrell.

The NSW branch of the NDA met at UTS yesterday before marching to the University of Sydney. The turnout both state and nation-wide topped those of previous years.

By Madeleine Clarke