Higher Education

Plenty of us need that large cappuccino to get us through the day at work.

But if you’re a uni student, you’ve an important exam on tomorrow (that you haven’t studied for) and you’ve only just got home from your 9-to-5 gig, well, a large cappuccino just won’t cut it.

A couple of Red Bulls might get you there…. Or maybe, some ADHD meds. Those will get you firing.

Continue reading "Once, only elite athletes took “performance enhancers”..." »

Access to post-secondary education should be based on merit and not ability to pay. We know that graduates of further education typically enjoy higher incomes over their lifetimes than non-graduates and that tertiary and further education is critical to personal growth.

It is estimated that Australians without a Certificate III could be earning an additional $400,000 on average over the course of a typical working life if they attain a Certificate III qualification or higher. The benefits of higher and post-secondary education, however, historically have not always been shared widely and equitably in our society.

Instead, a disproportionately higher of number students from privileged backgrounds have enjoyed access to opportunities for further education while others have been left behind.

Continue reading "HELP me if you can I’m feeling dumb" »

In a previous life, I was a chef. Not a great one, but I do have the little certificate and scars to prove it.

The hours were long. I am sure we have all heard the horror stories of 16 hour days and 80 hour weeks so there is no need to discuss that at length. Anyhow, I decided that my future wasn’t in the kitchen, so university beckoned.

Fast forward a couple of years and university holidays have come around again. On the 11th of November last year, I went on university holidays. I will not go back until the end of February. That’s around 110 days. It is a long time. Even so, it’s apparently not quite long enough.

Continue reading "We’re all going on an endless uni holiday" »

Dear readers, please do not run away or close the window because I’m an Arts student: I have something important to say.

Over the past five years I have enjoyed a successful “career” (for wont of a better word) studying at four different universities and I now find myself in the early stages of a Doctorate.

There are many observations I could make about universities (my wife removes sharp objects from the room when anyone mentions VSU) but the issue most worrying me at the moment relates to the Group of Eight’s attitude towards funding and student contributions.

Continue reading "Higher student fees just aren’t feasible" »