Student services and scholarships will be cut at Federation University after a program lost money in the 2016-2017 federal budget.
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The government announced on Tuesday the Higher Education Partnerships and Participation Program would lose a third of its funding over the next four years and be “evaluated” this year.
It distributes money to universities based on how many students with low socio-economic status are enrolled.
Fed Uni receives $1.5 million annually from the program but Vice Chancellor David Battersby said regional students would be the real losers in the cuts.
“The $152 million reduction in funding over four years from the program nationally is a major reduction in funding,” he said.
“FedUni as a whole will lose about $1.5 million of funding for key programs, services and scholarships that assist in student retention.”
Labor Ballarat MP Catherine King said the cut would hit the whole community.
“For families who might not be able to afford university, HEPPP meant that their kids could study, get a degree, and get the job they wanted. The secondary benefits to our communities and the regional economy were significant,” she said.
Professor Battersby said they would also try and work with the government.
“Federation University Australia is looking forward to working with the Government to develop a direction for higher education, particularly for regional universities such as us,” he said.
The cuts come at a tricky time for the university.
It is in talks to take over Deakin’s Warrnambool campus, while Education Minister Simon Birmingham’s ‘options’ paper realised on Tuesday kept the government’s plan to cut commonwealth funding by 20 per cent on the table.
“In finalising the legislative reforms the Government will need to adjust subsidy and student contribution rates to meet the financial sustainability savings outlined in the Budget...options include (reducing) the Government’s contribution by 20 per cent on average, as first proposed in the 2014-15 Budget,” Senator Birmingham said.
A Fed Uni spokesman did not respond to a question on the proposed further 20 per cent cut and how it would affect their Warrnambool plans, but confirmed the takeover had been discussed at Tuesday night’s board meeting.
The government’s options paper also outlined a possible infrastructure scheme for regional universities with a fund or a loan supporting projects.