Fee-free university preparatory courses – mixed policy agendas – comment by CEO Jenny Dodd

The Federal budget delivered two weeks ago had many great components for both VET and higher education. TDA reported on these initiatives in the Newsletter on Monday 20 May. The one announcement we did not detail was that of the proposed fee-free university places.

As per the Department of Education’s website:

“FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses provide students with preparatory studies to gain the skills they need to get into university, without being out of pocket. … Funding for additional student places will increase the number of students taking part in these courses by 40 per cent by 2030 and double the number students by 2040. By 2030 it is estimated that around 30,000 students will be studying in FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses each year.”

Many years ago, I began my career in TAFE teaching Diploma students who had missed out on getting into university. These were the days before demand driven funding at university and before training packages. Many of the students I taught went onto university. They gained a full year of credit for their VET Diploma towards their bachelor degree and many ended up with Distinctions and High Distinctions in their final two years.

While it is not that easy now to move from a unit of competency-based diploma to get a year’s credit at university, the policy of expanding fee-free university preparatory courses competes with our goal of attracting more people into vocational education and training. Many of these possible students would be best enrolling in a Certificate IV or Diploma at TAFE and exiting with skills that will be important for their career and life opportunities.

The nature of the learning environment at TAFE is such that we do develop underrepresented groups of potential university students very effectively. The practical components in VET qualifications create multi-skilled and knowledgeable people.

The policy agendas are mixed and there is key opportunity being missed. At one end of the spectrum there is a policy agenda that focuses on VET. For example, a Future Made in Australia, where the need for highly skilled VET graduates has never been more acute. And at the other end we are encouraging students to go to fee-free university places.

Perhaps the fee-free university funding could be expanded to include TAFE. This could be the injection that is needed for the budget announcement of self-accredited TAFE courses at AQF5. These courses could be developed in a way that was purpose built for a pathway to university, something that does not exist now.

TDA is completely supportive of the government’s agenda to open opportunities for underrepresented groups to higher education and of the need to grow the number of people with a higher qualification. However, it would be good to think laterally about how best to achieve the goal of preparing students for university. Such lateral thinking might include students also gaining a TAFE qualification as part of the process.