Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/48646

Title

Differentiating Australia's universities

Author(s)

Young, Ian

Abstract

Over the last decade, Australia has embarked on a quite unique tertiary education path of increasingly “user pays”. At the same time, limited deregulation has opened up a large international tertiary education industry, which is now one of Australia’s major export earners. The pace of change seems set to continue in the future, with potential for a further shift from public to private support of tertiary education, greater domestic competition and significantly enhanced international competition. All nations control their tertiary education systems to some extent. National interests, consumer protection and societal expectations demand such controls. As the quality of higher education is linked to funding levels, government policy can have a dramatic impact on competition both in the domestic and international markets. The market can be easily shaped by the role of government. In addition, the manner in which institutions position themselves in this partially deregulated environment will have a significant impact on the future shape and success of these institutions. These developments will also impact the shape of Australian society into the future. The interplay of societal expectations, government policy, institutional positioning, marketing and international competition will be critical issues for Australian tertiary education over the next decade.

Publication type

Conference paper

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Chancellery

Source

Paper presented at 'Tomorrow's universities: the need for a change?', a Business/Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) Higher Education Summit, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 07 June 2006

Publication year

2006

Keyword(s)

Australia;  Colleges;  Competition;  Domestic students;  Fee loan schemes;  FEE-HELP;  Fee-paying students;  Government policy;  Government regulation;  HECS;  Higher education;  Higher Education Contribution Scheme;  International students;  Policy reform;  Research;  Students;  Teaching;  Universities;  University funding

Publisher

Business/Higher Education Round Table

Publisher URL

http://www.bhert.com/events-past/2006-06-07/index.htm

Publisher URL

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/chance/vc/messages_opinions.html