Social work and psychology students are spared massive price hikes as government changes plan for university fees
- Under the new Job-ready Graduates plan, cost of some degrees is increasing
- Social work and psychology degrees were meant to increase to $14,500
- But the government has changed plans and will only increase them to $7,950
The cost of social work and psychology degrees will no longer be doubled after the government changed its plan to shake-up university fees.
Under the new Job-ready Graduates plan, the cost of humanities, communications, and society and culture degrees are being more than doubled from $6,684 to $14,500 per year.
Behavioral science and clinical psychology courses were originally included in this band but the government will cap their fees at $7,950 a year instead.
The cost of social work and psychology degrees will no longer be doubled after the government changed its plan to shake-up university fees. Pictured: University of Sydney
The change was made on Tuesday after junior education minister Andrew Gee raised fears it could lead to fewer mental health nurses being trained, especially in regional areas.
'The amendments will help bridge the gap between country communities and the cities, including the divide in educational attainment and access to services such as mental health,' Minister Gee said.
Education Minister Dan Tehan said: 'We have made sensible amendments to the legislation after listening to the constructive feedback provided during the consultation process.
Mr Gee also raised concerns a $5,000 tertiary access payment would encourage country kids to leave to study in the city.
The change was made on Tuesday after junior education minister Andrew Gee raised fears it could lead to fewer mental health nurses being trained, especially in regional areas
The legislation, which was approved by the coalition joint party room on Tuesday, will be amended to allow country universities to offer the payments to their students.
Labor has described the proposed university reforms as friendless and members of the Senate cross bench have also raised concerns.
'It's well past time that Scott Morrison dumped his plan to make it harder and more expensive for Australians to go to uni,' said opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek.
The new fees aim to encourage students to take up subjects more likely to lead to in-demand jobs.
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The cost of teaching, nursing, maths and language degrees will almost halve to $3,950 a year.
Overall, the package is budget-neutral, meaning there is no new money allocated to the sector.
'Our reforms will make it cheaper for students to study qualifications and get good jobs in areas like teaching, health, IT, science, engineering, and agriculture', Mr Tehan said.
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