In a week that saw Labor harden its opposition to the ­Abbott government’s university funding cuts and deregulation of course fees, the political division is widening over higher education reform.

Speaking last Tuesday, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten appealed to students direct to oppose the planned 20 per cent cuts to course funding, fee deregulation (that will see universities decide their own course fees in 2016) and an increase in student loan interest rates.

“30 to 40 years ago there was an argument that it should not be about how much money your parents have, it shouldn’t be your credit card limit that determines your education,” said Mr Shorten, who has signed a pledge – joining forces with the National Union of Students – to ­oppose the changes.

Victorian Federal Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou has backed her leader’s position, telling Neos Kosmos that fee deregulation will mean greater debt for students and introduce a serious disincentive.

“Government should be about encouraging young people to get an education, it should not be about financial barriers,” she said.

“I can’t believe that the Minister for Education Chris Pyne could be so shortsighted, and I question his understanding of the values of higher education.”

Meanwhile Mr Pyne describes the reforms as “essential for the future prosperity of the nation”, impervious to criticisms that the Coalition’s policies will damage the prospects of a generation of young Australians.

To get a sense of the views held by some of those at the sharp end of the debate, Neos Kosmos spoke to two students at the University of Melbourne.
23-year-old Yiannis Kallianis, a commerce graduate half way through his Juris Doctor postgraduate course at the Melbourne Law School, says his reaction
is mixed to the competing ideologies.

“There is some merit as to the goals of the reforms – including making universities and their degrees more valuable for our future careers,” says Kallianis, who believes increased competitiveness will force universities to innovate.

As a student who will graduate with significant HECS debt, Kallianis says he’s “slightly sceptical and concerned about what the implications [of the reforms] could be.”

Kallianis – who says the HECs system “strikes a reasonable balance between encouraging tertiary education and budgetary concerns,” welcomes the plan to assist disadvantaged students, but feels that fee deregulation will discourage enrolments.

“The Government should be doing all it can to encourage more Australians to complete tertiary education,” says the former president of the the Melbourne University Greek Association,

Fellow student Jiannis Tsaousis (20) has begun a Bachelor of Commerce and Diploma in French at Melbourne uni, and sitting on the fence isn’t one of his extra-curricula activities.

Tsaousis tells Neos Kosmos that he’s supportive of the Government’s reforms “as they pave the path for our universities to become truly world class.
“Given university students earn around $1 million over their lifetime more than non-university graduates, it is only fair they contribute more,” he says.

“With a shrinking tax base and an ageing population, universities cannot rely on government funding – students will need to pay more for their courses to sustain and improve the quality of our universities.”

But the youthful and strident Tsaousis does have some concerns – specifically the changes to the HECS interest rate, which will be tied to the long-term government bond rate.

“As the rich pay off their HECS debt faster, the poor will have to pay even more over their lifetime in interest on their HECS debt.

“This is something the government should reconsider,” he says.

As an existing student, the reforms won’t increase Tsaousis’ fees, but if he undertakes a post graduate course, the new system would kick in. Isn’t that a disincentive?

“Individually, I will be disadvantaged,” he says, “but from a social viewpoint, this is healthy, because the reforms will correct the imbalance in several courses where there is an excess of graduates such as Law, relative to the jobs available in that industry.

“Students will be ‘incentivised’ to study courses where they are likely to find a job and this can only be a good thing.”

The fate of the Government’s reform package, which includes extending support to students at TAFEs, private colleges and sub-bachelor degree programs, will be decided by the Senate later this month.

While Clive Palmer has said the PUP will not support the deregulation of university fees, the government need the support of at least two senators from the PUP/Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party alliance to pass the higher education package.

Last week, Chris Pyne said that the fact that Mr Palmer had not said he would stand in the way of the reforms generally, was heartening ”If you haven’t said no, then we’re a long way from ending the siren, as they say,” he told reporters, before adding that he believed the Coalition and the PUP would work out a deal.

Meanwhile university vice-chancellors’ worst fear is that fee deregulation will be blocked, while a 20 per cent cut in course funding remains. Another ‘national day of action’ organised by the NUS in state capitals will protest the Government’s plans on August 20.