Uni chief slams ‘unfair’ $51k degrees as jobs in peril
A leading university boss has criticized the higher education sector for being over-inflated, failing students and losing sight of its purpose to serve the public interest.
Western Sydney University vice-chancellor George Williams said the industry had become a two-track system, with record profits in some places and huge deficits and job losses in others.
WSU is among six in 10 universities in NSW undergoing restructuring and the union estimates it will put 1500 jobs at risk.
“There is a misalignment about what universities have to offer and their governance structures,” Professor Williams told ABC Radio on Friday.
“We should be evaluated first and foremost on what we offer to our students.”
The constitutional lawyer, a key figure in the failed referendum, defended the hiring of three consultants for $3,000 a day, saying that ultimately covered the cost of some layoffs.
Prof Williams reported that satisfaction among his institution’s 47,000 students was low and many were going hungry.
“A $51,000 arts degree is deeply unfair and wrong for a group that often earns the lowest salaries,” he said.
“Then we put debt on them, and then they can’t buy a house. They don’t get a fair situation.”
An inquiry began in the NSW parliament on Friday to examine the industry, including reliance on external consultants.
It is being conducted in parallel with a Senate inquiry into the university’s governance, including compliance with workplace health and safety laws, which is expected to report in December.
In September the workplace safety regulator took the unprecedented step of forcing the University of Technology Sydney to pause plans to cut 400 jobs in the hope of saving around $100 million.
Approximately $66.9 million in federal funds will be used to establish study centers for promising students from areas and outer suburbs of major cities.
They will have the opportunity to go to university with an extra 9,500 places.
The additional places will be allocated by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission for 2026 and will represent a 4.1 per cent increase on 2025 figures.
Nine in 10 new jobs over the next decade will require a post-secondary qualification and almost half will go through vocational training pathways.
Half of people in their 20s and 30s in Australia have a degree, but numbers are lower in outer suburbs and regions, Education Minister Jason Clare said.
“Opening the doors of our universities more widely to more people from the suburbs and regions is not only the right thing to do, it is what we need to do,” he said.
The centers provide students with personal academic skills support as well as computers, internet and study areas.
A further seven of the centers will open before the end of the year in Fairfield and Liverpool in NSW, Northam in WA, Beenleigh in Queensland, Kangaroo Island in SA, Sorrell in Tasmania and Norfolk Island.
The government is also funding free TAFE places and has committed to providing at least 100,000 places each year from 2027.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
