XRoads

Uni fees are continuing to rise steeply here, with nearly all Australian unis raising their course fees by the maximum allowable 25% under the government cap.

At this rate, studying Medicine in Australia, for example, could cost an international student newcomer up to AU$60,000 a year by 2007!

In addition, the newcomer may be subjected to annual fee increases of roughly 7% for the duration of his/her course.

Are these really necessary?

According to this article, unis believe that keeping their fees low would:

1. send the government the wrong message (that they did not need more money).
   
   and
   


2. lead to perceptions of lower quality.

But would it really? I mean:

1. (a) education and research have always been viewed as priority areas of investment by the government, so why should they suddenly stop or limit their funding just because Australian unis don't increase their fees by around 25%?
   
   (b) increasing the fees to such ridiculous amounts would send the government the same message (that they do not need more money because they're getting heaps of it from students instead).
   
   (c) how much more money do the unis need anyway, given that most of the academic staff's salaries are covered by the extravagant fees paid by international students, while the majority of uni research is funded by government or affiliated grants?
   
   AND...
   
   
2. surely the quality of a uni is not judged by the cost of its courses, but rather its longstanding reputation.
   

So, is the widespread increase in uni fees based mainly on sheer necessity or rather, simply by the phenomenon my ex-Chemistry teacher, Mr. George, coins the kiasu effect (i.e. the domino effect)? You judge...