The head of Australia’s opposition party signaled how his party plans to approach higher education in next year’s elections — and university officials there are alarmed.
Bill Shorten, who heads the Labor Party, told business leaders that a Labor government would pay universities “additional” funding if they improved retention rates, graduate results and productivity.
The move is seen as an attempt to give incentives for universities to rein in ballooning student numbers without reintroducing capped places, but has raised concern the sector could be hit with more regulation and so-called soft caps.
Universities fear the remarks signal a return to compact funding, which distributes grants to universities for teaching and research based on institution-specific deals.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/09/australian-universities-balk-suggestion-funds-be-tied-retention
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