University of Sydney vice-chancellor says fee deregulation will create more scholarships

Updated

The University of Sydney says nearly a third of its domestic undergraduate students will get scholarships if the proposed shake-up of higher education passes the Senate, giving universities the power to set fees.

An average three-year degree at some prestigious institutions might soon cost about $48,000, a big increase compared with the current price of many degrees.

But University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence told AM that raising fees to about $16,000 a year would allow him to double the university's $80 million scholarship program.

"We will be able to have a generous package of support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds," he said.

"They'll actually have more support than they have at the moment.

"That's based on modelling where the fees are, for a degree, sort of the price of a family car."

Student contributions for 2014 are capped at between $6,044 and $10,085 a year, depending on the degree, he said.

Unions, student groups, Labor and the Greens fear deregulating fees will make university degrees unaffordable for many poorer Australians.

The Government's bill currently faces a roadblock in the Senate and the University of Sydney has not decided what it will charge students in 2016, if the legislation passes.

"The issue we're facing here is making sure fee deregulation doesn't make university less accessible," Professor Spence said.

"No Australian university has really serious resources put into the support of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"We are saying that is going to be a serious area of investment for us if deregulation comes."

Fee deregulation is likely to leave a number of prestigious institutions, like the University of Sydney, much better off financially.

But Professor Spence repeatedly refused to tell AM how much extra money the university expected to get each year.

Last month the University of Western Australia unveiled plans to hike fees by at least 30 per cent and charge a flat fee of $16,000 a year.

No evidence of hacking 'yet' in Spurr case: Sydney University

Professor Spence also spoke to AM about suspended Professor Barry Spurr, who allegedly sent racist and sexist emails.

Last week, the Federal Court continued an order preventing news website New Matilda publishing further details of the emails.

"We do not yet have evidence that those emails were hacked," Professor Spence said.

"Racism, sexism and any other kind of discriminatory practise is entirely out of place in a university and it's the kind of behaviour that we just simply cannot tolerate as a civilised academic community.

"But we need to hear what it is Professor Spurr has to say about the content in which those emails were written."

Professor Spurr was a consultant to the Federal Government's national English curriculum review.

Lawyers for Professor Spurr told the court he was collateral damage in a political attack on the Federal Government by New Matilda.

Topics: university-and-further-education, education, federal-government, the-university-of-sydney-2006

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