The Government has been forced to signal they will alter university funding arrangements to ensure universities will not be able to offer only full fee paying places in some courses, after pressure by the Australian Democrats.
The Democrats moved an amendment to the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (2007 Budget Measures) Bill 2007, to oppose the removal of the cap on full-fee degrees.
The provisions proposed by the Government will apparently prevent 'significant' shifts in movement of Commonwealth and full-fee places within a funding cluster.
"This is an example of higher education policy on the run by the Howard Government. When the numbers looked shaky, the Government had to scramble to develop new provisions," Democrats' Spokesperson for Higher Education, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja said.
"I am glad we have at least achieved some level of safeguard but I am very sceptical of these so-called provisions. There was nothing in the Senate debate to indicate that it will be up to anything other than the Minister's discretion as to whether or not a full-fee-only degree would be allowed.
"I was in the Senate when they brought in full-fee degrees for domestic students with a Prime Ministerial commitment that there would be no $100 000 degrees.
"There are now degrees costing more than twice that amount.
"If the Government did not want to countenance full-fee only degrees, there would be no need to entirely lift the cap as they have done," Senator Stott Despoja said.
