<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><HTML><HEAD><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8"></HEAD><BODY><DIV>
<H1>Funding shortfall blamed for $200k degrees</H1>
<P></P>
<P>The vice chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) says a lack
of Federal Government funding is behind the decision of several universities to
charge more than $200,000 for a degree.</P>
<P></P>
<P>A few years ago Prime Minister John Howard was concerned that the cost of
university degrees not get beyond $100,000 in Australia.</P>
<P></P>
<P>But from next year, full-fee paying students studying medicine at Bond
University, Melbourne University and Monash will get a bill of more than
$200,000.</P>
<P></P>
<P>At the University of New South Wales the figure is a mortgage-sized
$237,000.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Professor Ian Chubb says ANU is not charging such high fees because it does
not want to exclude people who are not rich or willing to go deep into debt.</P>
<P></P>
<P>He says that rather than introduce a cap on full fees, the Government should
be funding universities adequately. </P>
<P></P>
<P>"Most of my colleagues would argue that they [charge high fees] because of
inadequate funding levels, and that's been the case for 25 years," he said.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"There's been a slow, steady decline in the amount of money we get per
student. </P>
<P></P>
<P>"I think that's something that should be arrested and I think that
Australians have got to be concerned to ensure that education is available to
people who want it, with talent, for a price that doesn't exclude some people
from it."</P>
<P></P>
<P>The Federal Opposition has condemned the rising costs.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Labor's education spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin says the Opposition remains
committed to abolishing full-fee degrees.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Ms Macklin says few young people or their families can afford such fees.</P>
<H3>'New phase'</H3>
<P></P>
<P></P>
<P>Professor Chubb says the higher education sector is at an interesting
point.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"From what I understand there are already universities that are not meeting
their target quotas," he said.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"When you add into that full fees, or fee-paying courses, then I'm not sure
how this complicated mix will shake-down.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"It seems to me that we're entering a new phase and I think the impact is
quite unpredictable."</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>