LA TROBE university will lose between $19 and $20 million from its budget in the next two years, and students at its Bendigo and Bundoora campuses are set to bear costs passed down from a $2.8 billion federal budget cut.
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The government announced the cuts to the university sector on Saturday with the aim of freeing up funds for its Gonski school reforms.
La Trobe vice-chancellor Professor John Dewar described the cutbacks as a “very disappointing outcome for the sector and for the nation”.
Professor Dewar said early calculations showed the impact on La Trobe’s budget would be close to $20 million over the next two years.
“It’s disappointing and completely unexpected... it’s going to mean a significant change to funding arrangements.”
It is believed that the budget restrictions will result in the scaling back of university grants and the removal of discounts for families who pay HECS fees upfront.
Professor Dewar said universities would see the impact on their finances as early as next year’s budget.
He said university representatives would meet during the next week to figure out which areas would be affected by the cuts, but that the university was committed to increasing its presence in Bendigo. “It’s too early to say yet what changes will occur. We’ll be doing a lot of work on that in the next few days,” he said.
“Of course we have to factor the budget cuts in to our future forecasts... we still have ambitious plans for Bendigo.”
Professor Dewar said there were restrictions placed on raising course fees, and that it was unclear where the university would meet its budget shortfall.
“We have very limited scope to generate other sources of revenue,” he said.
Professor Dewar said the announcement would mark a step backward for Australia’s reputation as a top university provider.
“We understand (the government) has a need to meet its expenses elsewhere but we don’t think taking money out of the uni sector is the best way to achieve that,” he said. “Australia already spends less of its percentage of GDP on universities and this will only put us in a worse position than other countries that are increasing their spending on tertiary education.”
A spokesman for Victoria’s higher education and skills minister Peter Hall said Victorian universities would lose an estimated $200 million over two years.
Labor candidate for Bendigo Lisa Chesters supports the budget announcement.
She said she backed the move to abolish discounts to “rich families” that paid their children’s university fees upfront. “It’s a fairer system for every child and student,” she said. Ms Chesters said she would meet Professor Dewar this week to discuss any effects on La Trobe’s Bendigo campus.