What is the Cost of a University Degree?
22 January 2005
There has been a lot of discussion lately about the cost of
university education.
Debate has focussed on this year's increase in HECS fees.
Has the Federal Government led rise resulted in the decline in
the number of university applications this year? Which is only the
second time there has been a downturn in 50 years.
Several Australian universities chose to raise their fees.
After much consultation and consideration, the University of the
Sunshine Coast made the decision to raise its fees 25 per cent in
an effort to ensure we had the funding to match the region's growth
and also to provide the best quality education to our students.
Part of that money is now being earmarked to assist students
with up-front costs - those initial study costs that can be
difficult to meet - textbooks, photocopying etc.
Several universities chose not to increase their fees and there
is no correlation between universities that raised their fees and
the number of students who applied - numbers are down across the
board.
The University of the Sunshine Coast is in a unique regional
location, and differs from city-based universities.
Forty per cent of our students are the first in their families
to attend university and 52 per cent of our students are mature age
(over 21-years of age and non-school leavers) and are taking
advantage of being able to study for a university degree close to
home.
The recent discussions on university costs raise the question…
what is the actual cost of an undergraduate degree?
Figures such as $100,000 are bandied around in the media.
In actual fact, an Arts degree at the University of the Sunshine
Coast costs, on average, $4808 per year.
An undergraduate degree normally takes three years full-time to
complete, so this equates to just under $15,000 in total.
This is a rough guide only and will vary if Business or Science
subjects are included as part of an overall Arts degree.
There is no denying $15,000 is a lot of money for many people
and this does not include other costs incurred while studying such
as books, study materials, field trips etc.
But you could look at it as $5000 a year for three years as a
life-long investment in yourself and as a way of dramatically
increasing your earning capacity, which is what many of our
students do.
A report released by the Federal Government in December showed
that employment outcomes and salaries for Australian university
graduates are improving.
More than 92.5 per cent found employment within four months of
graduating and their starting salaries were higher than ever
before.
Graduates of an education degree can expect to earn, on average,
$40,000 when they enter the workforce.
The USC Education degree, which is part of the Federal
Government's National Priorities initiative, is exempt from HECS
increases and will cost students around $3850 per year but, as it
is a combined Arts, Science or Business degree it runs for four
years, instead of the usual three.
Our Faculty of Business is enjoying success in the areas of
Accounting, Marketing and Management with excellent employment
outcomes for graduates.
A Business degree at USC costs around $6850 per year, and a
Science degree is the same.
Again this may vary depending on the individual courses each
student chooses.
Interestingly our student administration staff, who have been
dealing with students enrolling for 2005, have received very few
comments about the HECS fee increase from students.
Financial assistance is also available through a variety of
government and university based initiatives, including scholarships
and bursaries. Detailed fee information is available on our website
at www.usc.edu.au or by
contacting Student Administration.
Professor Robert Elliot is Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of
University of the Sunshine Coast