Innovative Research Universities (IRU) has recommended “urgent remediation” to the Job-Ready Graduates (JRG) package which has seen humanities students pay nearly $50,000 per degree.

The JRG changes in 2021 shifted the costs of higher education onto students, making student contributions more unequal, complex and socially regressive.

The IRU Discussion Paper – Reforming JRG Funding Rates released last week suggests changes that would benefit around 125 000 students, reducing course cost to under $30 000.

The report makes three key costed and modelled recommendations to government:

1. Reducing the student contribution rates in the highest charging fields (humanities, human movement, society and culture, and communications)

2. Progressively moving towards a student contribution system aligned with lifetime earnings, with three bands of student contributions

3. Increasing government funding to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses (STEM) to reduce the negative impacts of the JRG package

It argues the government’s 80% of higher education attainment rate will not be met without JRG reform.

DASSH supports IRU Executive Director Paul Harris’ call to make reforming JRG a priority for the upcoming mid-year Federal Budget update.

“Taking immediate action on JRG reform will deliver both short- and long-term economic benefits for the nation. In the short term, reducing the cost of education will lower the CPI and put downward pressure on inflation. In the long-term, it will be a key plank in boosting tertiary participation – international evidence shows that increased participation and public investment in education drives productivity, reduces inequality and leads to broad economic and social benefits.“

Read the full report here.