GREENS NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon has raised concerns about the impact changes to the higher education sector proposed by the federal government's Kemp-Norton review may have on Charles Sturt University (CSU).
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Senator Rhiannon - the Greens' spokesperson for higher education - said the review's recommendations would further add to difficulties associated with funding currently being faced by the university.
"CSU is already facing a period of extreme uncertainty with chronic underfunding for courses, teachers and students," she said.
"Most worryingly, this review would expose public universities to competition from the private sector by allowing private institutions to access public funding in a demand-driven model.
"The only way to fund this would be to charge students higher fees."
CSU vice-chancellor Andrew Vann has welcomed the review of the demand-driven funding system for universities and said it had been a success story for the sector.
"Allowing universities to allocate places based on market demand means each institution is able to work more collaboratively with its communities to focus on areas of need," he said.
"CSU has been able to use the freedom provided by the demand-driven system to increase student numbers and hence access for rural and regional students, as well as metropolitan students studying by distance education."
However, Dr Vann cautioned that some of the review's recommendations would require careful consideration, particularly with regard to their impact on regional students.
"The recommendations about postgraduate places and the extension of Commonwealth-supported places to private providers could have far-reaching implications that need to be worked through," he said.
"We must be careful to ensure any further changes to the system don't disadvantage rural and regional students, who have typically been less well represented in tertiary education."