Australian universities increased their postgraduate enrolments during the coronavirus pandemic, although it left them no better off and even hurt them financially. But the gesture has left them in a bind by entrenching expectations that they will provide subsidised master’s places, just as their capacity to do so declines.
A new study has found that university administrators are not necessarily guided by financial interest, even when it comes to postgraduate places – one of the few areas where they have the discretion to set fees.
The study, published by the University of Melbourne’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education, analysed how universities responded to a Covid-era relaxation of rules governing the use of teaching subsidies. The change, part of the 2021 Job-ready Graduates (JRG) reforms, allowed administrators to expend unused bachelor’s and sub-bachelor’s subsidies on taught master’s study, and vice versa.
It coincided with a funding guarantee introduced to help sustain universities’ financial health during the pandemic. The government committed to maintaining their teaching allocations at 2020 levels for four years, even if they failed to attract enough students to use the subsidies.
