Despite Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s failure to get university fee deregulation passed in the Senate, it remains quite likely that fees will rise one way or another in the next few years. This could be through an increase in the cap on fees (as South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has advocated), or via passage of some version of the deregulation legislation.
There has been much comment about fee deregulation and the trade-offs involved in having a properly funded university sector and the important issue of equal access. A key part of this discussion concerned the question of how price sensitive university students are. That is, how much of a fee hike will deter students from going to university? And how does this differ by socioeconomic background?
The Experience of US Law Schools
The effect of fees on students commencing university is a profoundly important issue which has implications for social mobility, equality of opportunity, income inequality and the skill base of the Australian economy.
But fees also have very significant implications for students coming out of university. Will private sector employers end up paying higher salaries to graduates, thereby offsetting the higher fees? Will students be willing to go into lower paid but socially beneficial jobs such as those in the government or not-for-profit sectors?
