When the Australian government proposed radical changes in the financing of higher education in its budget last month, it said the new rules — to take effect in January 2016, if passed — would make universities more competitive. Critics said they would make undergraduate education more expensive.

The changes would cut government funding per student by an average of 20 percent across the board, while freeing the universities to raise tuition without regulatory restraints.

They would also raise interest rates on student loans. The proposal calls for loan rates to be indexed to the 10-year bond rate, with a cap at 6 percent. Rates are now capped at the rate of inflation.

The income threshold for employed graduates to start to pay back their loans would also be lowered.

The government says the changes are needed in an increasingly competitive international education market.