Victorian TAFE cuts may threaten university access

October 01, 2012

The Baillieu Government’s funding cuts to Victoria’s TAFE sector will affect the universities that admit the highest proportion of students through TAFE pathways, according to The Good Universities Guide 2013.

Each of Victoria’s four dual-sector universities — which offer TAFE courses in addition to higher education — earned five-star ratings for the high proportion of TAFE students they admitted, indicating that they play a big part in allowing TAFE students to transition through to higher education.

This begs the question: will the TAFE cuts limit the number of alternative entry pathways into higher education?

According to Greg Barclay, Vice-President of TAFE and Adult Provision at the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, the funding cuts will negatively affect the number of pathway opportunities available for many students, although the full impact won’t be fully known until halfway through 2013, when many courses will cease running.

‘We understand that between 20 and 23 per cent of university enrolments come from TAFE pathways,’ Mr Barclay said.

He added that the University of Ballarat’s course cuts alone will affect up to 2200 students, which will impact on the university’s ability to provide pathways for those students into university.
David Williams, Executive Director of the Victorian TAFE Association, said that dual-sector universities will be putting a greater focus on pathways despite cuts in TAFEs to lower-level business, hospitality, fitness and tourism programs and increases in fees in many others.

‘TAFE pathways to university are an increasing focus of both dual-sector unis and TAFEs, with many collaborative partnerships across the state in place. Despite the recent TAFE funding cuts, it is very clear that TAFEs intend to continue and to expand pathway programs,’ Mr Williams said.

In response to the funding changes and fee increases, Professor Linda Kristjanson, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology, said that the university is introducing new schemes to ensure that TAFE pathways will still be available.

‘We are a major provider of TAFE to university pathways and the changes we are making in response to recent Victorian government funding changes will provide Swinburne TAFE students with even greater pathway opportunities to our degrees,’ Professor Kristjanson said.

Victoria University is also undergoing a series of reforms to increase the pathways available to students, according to Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Students) Professor Anne Jones.

‘Some of our existing TAFE pathways into higher education have been affected by TAFE funding cuts; however, we have worked to find alternative ways of meeting this need,’ Professor Jones said.

The Guide has also revealed that the prestigious Group of Eight universities admit a much smaller proportion of TAFE students into their undergraduate degrees. Monash University earned two stars and the University of Melbourne earned only one star for the proportion of students admitted on the basis of a TAFE qualification, indicating the importance of dual-sector universities in ensuring access to higher education through alternative pathways.