Funding Policy Paper

Strategic advice to Universities Australia, the peak body representing universities, regarding the potential outcomes of the 2014-15 Budget.  This advice included modelling of the impact of the proposed funding changes and fee deregulation, and an analysis of the impact of the proposed changes to student loans.

The 2014-15 Commonwealth Budget included sweeping changes to funding arrangements for higher education, de-regulation of undergraduate fees, extension of demand-driven Commonwealth funding to non-university higher education providers and for sub-degree programs, and a range of changes to student loans including the introduction of a real interest rate. Universities Australia commissioned PhillipsKPA to analyse the Budget package and its implications for universities.

This work included the quantification of the full set of funding changes, development of plausible scenarios for fee levels following deregulation and modelling of the combined impact of the changes for every university. The project also included modelling of the impact of the changes to student loans for different types of students, showing the separate and combined implications of increased fees and a real interest rate.