Federal Government challenged to be honest with students.The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has challenged the federal government to be honest with students and reveal the exact amount that students contribute towards the cost of degrees. It is commonly claimed by the Howard government that students are only paying about 25 per cent of the cost of a degree.
The architect of the higher education contribution scheme (HECS), Bruce Chapman has previously disputed the governments claims and is now joined by the NTEU in challenging an exposure of the real percentages. Prof. Chapman has stated that the contribution of students towards the costs of university degrees is approximately 45 percent, almost double the government claims. The NTEU policy and research officer, Paul Kneist has affirmed that the figure is on average around 40 percent but that in some case such as law degrees students are paying around 85 percent of the total costs. |
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