Category: Australian universities

Is ATAR an Accurate Assessment for Admission to Education Degrees?

Commentary Back in April 2021, I observed: “The sad reality is that many Australians cannot properly spell, write, or read” and that this malaise is compounded by an inability to correctly apply the rules of grammar. I also noted that “very few students are exposed to the great books of Western civilisation but instead are required…


The Shameful Star Chamber Targeting a University Student

Commentary In a recent judgement about a sexual misconduct case at Cornell University in New York, the judge compared the campus disciplinary committees to the infamous English Star Chambers (pdf). He warned that “these threats to due process and academic freedom are matters of life and death for our great universities.” We, too, should be regarding what’s…


Beyond Spin: Where Has Ethical Marketing Gone?

Commentary Advertising, hyping, lobbying, direct mailing, corporate relating, media training, and issue managing are all the rage at Australian universities, and I am as guilty as anyone. Bless me, father, for I too have “spinned.” I should have known better. You see, in another life, I fancied myself a budding investigative journalist. To the extent…


Australian Universities Should Provide Top of the Line Education to Their ‘Cash Cows’

Commentary Alex Chevrolle, director of external relations at education provider Study Group Australia, recently argued that the Labor government should develop a new funding strategy to ensure that universities do not have to depend on fluctuating and decreasing international student fees. It is well-known that international students pay higher enrolment fees than domestic students. The…


‘Obscene’ Tuition Fees Are Driving Education Inflation Rate: Former Vice Chancellor

The rising cost of tuition fees is one of the primary causes of the soaring education inflation rate, two former vice-chancellors argue. The comments come after the latest consumer price index from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals education is the largest single contributor to inflationary growth in the March quarter of 2022, with…


Australian Government Urged to Increase Funding to Save Public Universities: Report

A new report has called for the federal government to increase funding for higher education to help universities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and allow domestic students to receive free undergraduate education. In its latest report (pdf), the Australia Institute, a public policy think tank based in Canberra, said that the government could save public…


Law Professor Warns Against Australia’s Universities Becoming ‘Education Factories’

An emeritus law professor has warned about the risk of turning Australia’s universities into “education factories” that graduate people with poor skills and critical capability who could be easily influenced by the pervasive “woke culture.” Gabriel Moens, emeritus professor of law at University of Queensland, pointed out that the current education policy, which focuses on…


Former Pro Vice Chancellor Warns Against Australia’s Universities Becoming ‘Education Factories’

A former pro vice chancellor at Murdoch University has warned about the risk of turning Australia’s universities into “education factories” that graduate people with poor skills and critical capability who could be easily influenced by the pervasive “woke culture.” Gabriel Moens, who is also an emeritus professor of law at University of Queensland, pointed out…


Did Universities Forego Nourishment of the Soul for Money?

Commentary On the evening of April 14, 1912, Marion Wright of Somerset, England, who was on her way to get married, sang the final hymn in a religious service conducted aboard a steamship headed for New York. It was drawn from John Henry Newman’s poem, “The Pillar of the Cloud.” Lead, Kindly Light, amid the…


International Students in Australia,‘Cash Cows’ Milked for Research Dollars: Academic

An American academic has raised concerns about Australian universities’ treatment of international students whom he said have received a “really low-class education” while their money is being used to fund “big-ticket research” and drive up the universities’ rankings. During the launch event for his new book at the Centre for Independent Studies, Associate Professor at…