Over the past month there have been several completely contradictory statements about the financial health of Australia’s universities, writes Paul Kniest, NTEU policy and research co-ordinator.
Tertiary education
Who needs four uni degrees or even one for that matter?
For too long Australia has been gripped by the ridiculous notion that the more people finishing high school, the more people attending university, the richer and more productive our country will become, writes Adam Creighton.
Political snippets: A hex on graduates staying at home
The Murdoch Sundays were on the track of student bludgers at the weekend — professional students who keep racking up HECS debts by taking one degree after another without ever getting a proper job to earn enough money to have to start paying back their debt.
How to con your way into Harvard
Like a real-life Talented Mr Ripley, 23-year-old Adam Wheeler bluffed his way into Harvard, picking up tens thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships. And he would’ve got away with it, too, but he got greedy. Read the fascinating full story.
revealed 
Australian unis infiltrated by organised crime?
The Oz has its hands on a confidential government report that reveals overseas organised crime outfits are attempting to “shoehorn illegal migrants into the country as fee-paying students” via student visas.
All those journalism graduates … all these jobs
It might seem that a journalism degree is a sure-fire path to a life of blogging about your experiences at Centrelink, says Chris Scanlon, yet enrolments in the country’s journalism courses have been rising steadily.
Work hard for permanent residency? Why bother?
An anonymous reader lets exposes the second-rate hospitality training given to international students hoping to gain permanent residency in Australia.
Melbourne Muddle: elite students turning away from law in droves
Elite students are turning away from the once-prestigious Melbourne University law school in droves, shunning the Melbourne Model in favour of not only long-time rival Monash, but also RMIT and Deakin University.
University of Melbourne spinning themselves a lie on VCA
Management and spin doctors are in denial over the unpopular changes to the Victorian College of the Arts, writes Scott Dawkins.
Ill will across Melbourne uni claims another victim
The stoush between staff and senior management at the University of Melbourne has claimed its second victim after the chief architect of the university’s controversial internal restructuring process announced her decision to stand aside.
leaked Was Melbourne Model stoush behind the Law dean’s departure?
A damning series of internal documents obtained by Crikey reveals widespread anger from within Melbourne Uni’s law faculty over changes that would have seen professional staff sacked and replaced with senior bureaucrats.
University reform: yes — but what is it for?
Australian universities have completely lost their vocational or operational autonomy, and will continue to be wagged by the dog of economic and other concerns tangential to their traditional aims, says Matthew Sharpe.
Has the great Indian student bubble burst?
Speculation that the flood of Indian students into Australian education institutions (not to mention the $2 billion they bring to the economy each year) is about to dry up has generated alarm in political and educational circles, writes Geoff Maslen.
Left and right? Just the beginning of the complexities of student politics
How could hordes of bright-eyed Melbourne Uni students, with their liberal arts educations and asymmetrical haircuts, willingly sign their representation away to conservatives? They didn’t, writes student politician Chris Summers.
Twitter goes tertiary
DePaul University in the US will be starting what it calls “the first college-level journalism course focused solely on Twitter”. Is that really something to brag about? Surprisingly, yes, says Gawker, who got a sneak-peak at the syllabus.
Indigenous education: a silent success story
By the end of this year, about 25,000 Indigenous people will have graduated from Australian universities. Less than three decades ago, there were fewer than 300 Indigenous graduates in tertiary education. Joe Lane documents this remarkable — but largely unreported — achievement.
The University of Melbourne gags VCA staff
The University of Melbourne has placed an unprecedented gag on Victorian College of the Arts staff members talking to the media, with Senior staff members currently locked in a battle with the University over reforms stemming from the introduction of the controversial Melbourne Model.
Davis: Cutting to keep Melbourne University sound
The University remains in the black, but must slow future increases in spending to ensure its long-term viability is not compromised, writes Glyn Davis, the University’s Vice Chancellor, in an email to staff.
Closing the gap: tertiary education
Students from poorer socio-economic backgrounds struggle to convert academic potential evident at year 9 to year 12 results. We need to close this gap to help get them to uni, says Glyn Davis, VC at the University of Melbourne.
Why journalism degrees should be scrapped
Journalism is not a profession like engineering, medicine or even law, says journalist Richard Sine: you can pick up most media skills on the job, and no-one dies if you stuff-up. Wannabe reporters would be better off honing their skills out in the real world.
Bringing corporate sponsorship into the classroom
With the economic crisis hitting the already-struggling US education system hard, American colleges are selling off the naming rights to their classes to raise capital. “Quantitative Methods in Social Research, brought you by McDonald’s: I’m loving inferential statistics and control variables!”
VCA cuts an act of barbarism
The loss of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts will be a disaster for arts professions, says Barista.
Melbourne University’s ‘model’ provost departs
Melbourne University provost Peter McPhee has resigned. What’s the story? asks one Crikey reader.
Kruddiversary: the post-belief PM
After running a campaign almost entirely devoid of specific policies, Rudd has room to reinvent himself according to the circumstances, he’s a chameleon, writes Jeff Sparrow.
Part-time work and poverty are killing campus life
There is little wonder why we don’t hang around on campus. No-one has the time or the money to be students anymore, writes Dara Conduit.
