STUDENT attrition in Australia's universities comes at a cost of more than $1.4 billion a year, or an average of $36 million an institution.
A new study of 12 universities found attrition rates ranged from a low of 9.7 per cent to a high of 24.2 per cent, with an average of 17 per cent.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/high-university-drop-out-rates-cost-14bn/story-e6frgcjx-1225940860074

Reducing the number of students that fail in university is definitely an area where universities can save costs. Unfortunately, reducing the chances of a student failing university may mean fixing up the primary and secondary school systems, now a major undertaking.

I understand that 2 out of 5 female graduates do not work long enough to ever repay their HECS fees. Another area for investigation to reduce costs to the universities and also the taxpayer.

The usefulness of research from Australian universities is also highly questionable, when almost every piece of technology and piece of equipment now in use in the country is imported, and universities also import almost every textbook, piece of software and piece of equipment being used inside the university.

Eliminating research in universities that is unlikely to have any benefit to the Australian taxpayer is another area for investigation.

Regards the salaries for academics, we are frequently told that universities improve the productivity of the country. That should be put to the test, and the salaries of academics tied to a national productivity figure. If the national productivity figure goes up, the taxpayer then pays academics more money.

Seems fair, and if the national productivity figure goes down, academics get no more money until the figure gets back to its original level and then increases again. Seems more than fair.

I would think there are quite a few areas that should be investigated before universities decide to charge the students higher fees.

Overseas students are getting harder to attract and unis will feel the squeeze :

That could actually be a positive for the country as they'd finally be forced to pull out their fingers & produce some quality graduates.

Australia has spent twenty years "exporting" education via overseas students, sustaining the economy of institutions while undermining our local commitment to paying taxes to sustain this vital component of our common wealth.

Overseas students have been present in every research lab I have ever visited and benefited from exposure to the front-line of australian innovation. They have often returned to (for instance) nations that think highly of technical training and have policies of making themselves independent of the imported intellectual products of other (say western) nations.

A sufficient lag has occurred such that these nations may participate as equals in research endeavour, yet with national interests much more tightly (agressively) focused than our own.

Time for Australia to independently fund it's own higher istitutions, or become intellectual clients of those who do.

Rusty

The usefulness of research from Australian universities is also highly questionable.
Vanna,
You obviously know that some great innovation has come from australian universities but you're also quite aware that the imbalance between the number of graduates & the return of quality outcome is far too great to constantly dwell on the greatness of things. Just imagine if your average tradesman were on a similar payroll as academics ? Huge money being paid out but no product in sight. This is what needs to change. By all means pay a researcher for research but only pay normal wages. When they do discover or invent something marketable then they get the appropriate bonus just like in normal business. Presently, some academics are on well over $100,000 a year but what benefit is this to society ? If academics want good money then let them sell their expertise on the open market not just hand them good taxpayer's money for literally nothing.

There are several misunderstandings here. Graduates pay a proportion of their education costs but ONLY when their income has exceeded what it otherwise would have been.

This means (for Australian residents)they pay out of the premium they obtain for their higher skill. New Zealanders pay upfront.

You only have to look at the huge disparity between minimum wage workers on around $500 per week and graduates in the public service on $60,000 and more.

Only overseas students pay the full-cost of their education, but this is because all the benefits of their skills-increase are generated offshore

old zygote
"because all the benefits of their skills-increase are generated offshore"

If we never hear or see from them again, are we now training the opposition, and indirectly increasing the rate of decline of our own manufacturing base.