Ninety three percent of the population, who haven't been anywhere near a university, and who are heartily sick of the idiots who have, couldn't care less about another self-inflicted crisis.

the main crisis in universities is the dumbing down and brainwashing of its clients. Lowering of grades to keep international money flows coming, no free speech and pseudo science replacing basic biology is just the tip of the iceberg. Universities are teaching people how not to think.

That's right. We don't care about whether teachers, doctors, nurses, osteopaths, or pathologists are well educated. Standards don't matter to any of us, right? Ninety nine percent of people need doctors, teachers, nurses, and God help us- lawyers.

Waverly,

Of course universities are needed for training in certain professions: like medicine, law, engineering etc. They are NOT needed for nursing, journalism, teaching and all the stupid courses introduced to lure in more punters who will never gain employment because they have a piece of paper saying they did women's studies or some such rubbish. Only 27% of Australians hold degrees, many of them a waste of time and taxpayers' money.

This crisis is strickly down to the funding paradigm. Even as we commit more money than all the universities would require to be fully funded, to welfare for the rich. Negative gearing of real estate investment, subsidised super, And massive tax avoidance by the biggest income entities in the land.

The funding paradigm should be a means-tested endowment the parents receive so that any kid that has the intellectual capability to do STEM, is able to qualify!

And it should include a real living away from home allowance. In the knowledge for every dollar invested in tertiary education, there will be a return of not less than $2.50.

Fix the funding model and there will never ever be another funding crisis. Albeit lots of moaning and grizzling by the better off seeing their advantage and privilege dissolving before their very eyes and junior forced to compete on a level playing field for the first time?

Moreover, if our self inflicted, asinine prohibition on nuclear energy is lifted, Millions will flow into nuclear R+D.
Alan B.

ttbn,

Engineers don't need to be university trained.

There are a lot of excellent and leading engineers around who would not even get into a university let alone get through a degree program.

James Watt, one of the world's greatest engineers, didn't go to university.

When I started working in engineering in the 1970s I noticed that about 70% of engineers were not university trained.

I think technical colleges provide sufficient training for engineers.