Students face higher fees for degrees

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Anyone else 'GRRRRRR'ing' ?


GRR!

This is bollocks. It does NOT pay to better yourself in Australia that's for damn sure. I don't mind paying for my university education but our education is severely lacking in this country.

It's like everything now, including the health system which I currently work in - its all about money.

The worst thing is, I get paid less than most people I know. There are people a lot less educated than me earning far more and I'm paying back $150/fortnight in HECS and student loans.

There's just no incentive for further education.

it's fucking bullshit. who is it in the government that doesn't seem to understand that if they don't encourage the youth of australia to get a further education, then this country won't have a fucking future???

way to go howard et al...adding to the list of reasons why this country is going down the fucking toilet.

Considering I've got a degree that has two years left, another that's starting next year (double major) and then a doctorate (if I manage to get that far) yeah it's a little daunting when looking at what i will need to repay. My HECS is almost paid off to date but the additions won't be nice.

But really, why shouldn't you pay for your education? You know what, universities struggle - they're not this huge cash cow that sits and rakes in the money.

Rising costs mean rising fees, I see no problem with that, you don’t need to be a uni student to know that the cost of everything goes up – why should uni fees stay the same?

The repayment threshold is going up too – that’s actually a bonus. Rather than starting to pay your loans back at $24,365 it will be at $35,000 and in 2005-06 it will rise yet again to $36,184. So despite the cost of university studies rising, the salary you need to be earning before you pay it back rises too.

You don’t need a Bachelors for most of today’s jobs, if today’s school leavers would look at the VET sector and on-job training as a path to advancement and step into the real world rather than doing a pissy arts degree that they will never be able to utilise, funding for universities would be used more effectively.

We’ve got it good here, so much better than other countries, better than the international students who come here to study and pay well above what we pay, why whinge because you’re educating yourself so you can become qualified for a higher-paying or higher-skilled position?

Now, if you’re still buggaring around and doing a degree that you won’t be able to use, or going to uni just because you don’t really know what to do and are just taking courses until you decide what you like... well then you have cause to worry.

There is incentive for education, higher paying jobs and a higher skilled workforce seem pretty good reasons to me.

^^^ i just think the government's cash would be better spent on important things like education, as opposed to pointless fucking wars to "free" the iraqis, which i'm sure we're only apart of because howard's dead set on becoming dubya's next lover.

That's fine if you're doing something like law or business and you'll more than likely earn a higher than average living.

I'm a registered nurse. I have a duty of care, individual legal accountability and I have to answer to the Qld Nurses Council every year in relation to my work performance. I do NOT get paid in line with other professions/jobs who don't have nearly the amount of responsibility that I have in my profession. A lot of people like myself go to uni and don't get paid well and to get further, have to pay even more for post-grad and don't get paid more for doing that either. It's difficult to pay such high fees for uni when its unlikely you will ever pay them back, knowing that the higher-paid your profession, the more respect you seem to have from the general community.

I agree that arts degrees etc aren't a brilliant idea these days. That said, I think its a shame that learning for the sake of learning is being pushed aside for the all-mighty dollar.

I don't mind paying for university education as I said earlier, what I mind is that our tertiary education is sorely lacking - we simply cannot compare to countries like the US and UK whose universities are world reknown.

It's great that the repayment threshold is going up though - about time. I just feel that unis charging up to 25% more is a bit much and not really comparable to the cost of living increases.

^^^ I think your profession is one of the few that sit in the "exception to the rule" box.

Nurses seem to cop it all round and they certainly don't get the support they deserve from the government, their employers or the community You need to be more highly skilled than the twat down the road who got his MBA and is sitting pretty in a cushy job yet you get less remuneration. I think nurses and teachers are two of the most under appreciated degree-qualified professionals.

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oh and on learning for the sake of learning...

i really believe that learning for the sake of learning should be done once you are in a stable position. If you love philosphy for example why not study it after you have the job, the home etc - study for pleasure when you can do it in comfort rather than being a drain on the system and struggling to get a job in your mid twenties after years spent studying a degree that has no value to your prospective employers?

Thanks miss kitten :D It's one of the things I get on my soapbox about unfortunately.

"i really believe that learning for the sake of learning should be done once you are in a stable position. If you love philosphy for example why not study it after you have the job, the home etc - study for pleasure when you can do it in comfort rather than being a drain on the system and struggling to get a job in your mid twenties after years spent studying a degree that has no value to your prospective employers?"

^^ I plan to do this. Have always wanted to do history/english and is a good point.

Bet all the politicians got their uni degrees when education was a citizens right and was free...

^^^ oh im sure we could have free education... funny thing about that is it wouldn't be free.

Lets face it, i don't want my tax dollars paying for somebody else's uni and neither would most people, could you imagine the outrage if they tried to increase income tax so every australian could get free university education.

What about the millions of wasted dollars given to the unemployed that refuse to work, like a former friend of mine that just wouldn't get a job. He thought he was better then to just get a factory job etc.
I mean he got like 14 for an enter score, dropped out of tafe, and now he goes for 5 jobs a week or something, which he will never get because he does not have the skills for the jobs, just to keep his dole payments flowing in.

There needs to be a huge restructure of where tax payers money go.........

^ Yeah they can spend the tax money on more TV telling you that the unemployed are the enemy and that society is three steps away from crumbling because some people don't want to be a slave their whole lives like you. (Note: I work). And it's not even like you are working for the good of society, you are working for the great god "MONEY" and the rich elite.

In an ideal world the top ten richest people in the country would be paying for everyones education...

If u ever meet this guy u would see they gotta do something about it

bailey i have a house mate very similar to the guy you mentioned above, he is 28 and hasnt worked in 4 years, he has no qualifications and has no intentions of getting a job, its so frustrating that people are allowed to get away with this shit. This guy is not stupid he is actually quite smart but totally unemployable.
With the uni fees going up in 2005, i better make sure i finish next year. I was talking to my dad once day out the cost of uni, my dads first degree cost him nothing and his second degree cost him $150.