{"id":48984,"date":"2019-08-09T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T23:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=48984"},"modified":"2019-08-09T16:32:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T23:32:00","slug":"government-funding-will-be-tied-to-uni-performance-from-2020-what-does-this-mean-and-what-are-the-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/government-funding-will-be-tied-to-uni-performance-from-2020-what-does-this-mean-and-what-are-the-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Government funding will be tied to uni performance from 2020: what does this mean, and what are the challenges?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Money cost saving for goal and success in school, education concept : US dollar bills \/ cash in burlap bags, a black graduation cap or hat, a certificate \/ diploma and a book on basic balance scale.<\/p><\/div>
\nEducation minister Dan Tehan\u00a0met with university Vice Chancellors<\/a>\u00a0in Wollongong this week to discuss a\u00a0new report<\/a>\u00a0on an upcoming funding formula for universities \u2013 performance-based funding.<\/p>\n

This report, and the proposed funding approach detailed in it, has been some time coming.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the government ended the policy of\u00a0demand-driven funding<\/a>\u00a0to universities, introduced by the previous Labor government in 2012.<\/p>\n

Under the policy, the number of government funded Commonwealth-supported places (CSPs) for Australian undergraduates was based on the number of undergraduates enrolling in courses. Roughly speaking, every student (with some exceptions) who enrolled could get a funded place and there was no limit or cap, which is why the policy was also known as \u201cuncapped\u201d funding.<\/p>\n

But the cap was put back on in December 2017 when the\u00a0government froze<\/a>\u00a0the number of CSPs at 2017 levels until 2020. It was a perhaps rushed decision in the context of some budgetary considerations during the 2017 Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO).<\/p>\n

The\u00a0government announced<\/a>\u00a0CSPs would be increased in 2020, in line with population growth in the 18-64 age bracket \u201ccontingent on meeting\u00a0performance requirements<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

In December 2018, Tehan\u00a0announced an expert panel<\/a>, chaired by the University of Wollongong\u2019s Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings, to lead the consultation with the sector on the implementation of this reform. This week\u2019s report is the result of this consultation.<\/p>\n

So, what is performance-based funding and what does the report propose?<\/p>\n

How will the new scheme work?<\/h4>\n

First, it\u2019s important to note the proposed performance-based funding allocation will only apply to \u201cnew\u201d undergraduate places, above the 2017 cap level. This \u201cgrowth\u201d will also be in line with working-age population growth.<\/p>\n

This means next year,\u00a0only about A$80 million<\/a>\u00a0of funding will be subject to performance measures. The proposed scheme would grow year-on-year above 2017 levels until a maximum of 7.5% of a university\u2019s funding is allocated on a performance basis.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, scope for this proportion to be adjusted in future.<\/p>\n

The scheme proposed by the expert panel measures performance across four areas:<\/p>\n