NO UNI FEE HIKES! SAVE THE HUMANITIES!

The Morrison government's announcement that it will double fees for a series of humanities degrees is one of the worst attacks on students in recent times.

Law, economics, management and commerce subjects will face fee hikes that means students could be charged up to $72,500 for a 5 year degree such as Law.

The cost of a humanities or communication degree will be more than doubled - increasing by 113% to $14,500 a year. A three year arts degree will now cost approx. $45,000.

This is essentially an attempt to abolish the humanities as a serious discipline, and instead restrict its accessibility to only wealthy students.

This fee increase deliberately prioritises economically profitable degrees, while decreasing the accessibility of degrees designed to encourage critical thinking about society. Our education should not be subordinate to the needs of industry.

The government wants to divide us by granting fee reductions to other students. We reject a two-tiered fee system that attempts to force students into studying what the government deems more important. Students should have the right to study what they want.

Cost should never be a barrier when deciding what to study at university, or even if you want to study at all. We need free, fully funded public education, not a user pay model that prioritises particular disciplines or degrees.

We are demanding that the government to scrap the proposed fee increases for university degrees.

Written by
Jazz Breen & Jack Mansell, Sydney University SRC Education Officers