WA; UWA to decide whether to increase HECS fees

AAP General News (Australia)
04-26-2004
WA; UWA to decide whether to increase HECS fees

PERTH, April 26 AAP - The University of Western Australia is expected to decide today
if it will increase HECS fees by up to 25 per cent.

The decision is widely expected to influence the state's other tertiary institutions
who have yet to rule on whether to raise fees.

Students will rally at UWA from 2.30pm (WST) today in a final bid to persuade the UWA
Senate that HECS increases would put higher education out of reach of many West Australians.

"Universities will be fundamentally changed forever in WA - young people won't be empowered
to make a difference for this country," National Union of Students (NUS) WA branch president
Zaneta Mascarenhas said.

"This is not a fair go. Australia will be going backwards."

Ms Mascarenhas claimed the UWA senators had not received adequate financial modelling
ahead of today's scheduled 4pm meeting, and that a decision to raise fees would be likely
to have "a domino effect" on other WA tertiary education institutions.

"A 25 per cent increase in HECS fees would represent less than one per cent increase
in their (UWA's) total budget, which is almost the same as their surplus last year," she
said.

The NUS said UWA could clearly afford not to impose a 25 per cent fee hike.

Last month, the UWA academic board recommended that fees be raised by a maximum 25
per cent across all courses, excluding domestic full-fee paying students.

AAP hn/cat/br

KEYWORD: UNIVERSITIES UWA

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