Young Aussies rip into 'outdated' university system as degrees hit $50,000: 'Felt like a cash cow'

Current and former university students have ripped into the tertiary education system in Australia. With student loan debt becoming a hot topic issue, many have been speaking out about how their course wasn't worth what they paid for it.

Yahoo Finance readers have sent in messages detailing their frustration at forking out tens of thousands of dollars for what they believe is a sub-standard service or a degree that doesn't guarantee them a job once they finish. Business degree graduate Abbey O'Hagan told us how frustrating this is for young Aussies.

"I can’t even count how many people who tell me they are never using their degrees, that they were pressured by family to go to uni and dropped out after two years with a lingering debt, or can’t even get a job in their field after getting a degree because they simply ‘don’t have enough experience’ for an ‘entry-level’ position," she said.

Students have opened up about their university experiences on SBS Insight, highlighting glaring problems currently facing the university sector.

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University classes feel 'outdated'

Taylor dropped out of studying business and computer science and ended up starting his own business when he was 19.

He said while there were some aspects of his tertiary learning that felt relevant, ultimately he believes degrees need to have a big revamp.

"For the computer science stuff, super interesting," he said. "I think business was the exact opposite for me ... just didn't match up. It just felt quite outdated. Felt like I was doing an '80s business course rather than a 2020 business course."

He now has a $27,000 HECS debt and thinks social media can teach you "pretty much" the same content in a much smaller time frame compared to a 12-week university course.

"I was doing my own learning outside of [uni], and I found that to be quite helpful," he said.

Felt like a 'cash cow'

Celine, who is studying engineering, said some of her courses were so large that she felt she wasn't able to get quality education anymore.

"You have about 500 people in one lecture," she said. "A lecture runs maybe two to three hours, and you might have a 10-minute break every hour.

"So you can't exactly get your questions answered or go and clarify things because you're on a time crunch."

She added that when she failed a few courses, her university didn't reach out to try and help her.

"They sort of see it as a 'Well, you failed the class, but that's good because then we're getting more profit from you, because you still have to pay for that again' ... it makes you feel just like a cash cow," she said.

Celine also complained about the lack of relevant material contained in her studies.

"There are a lot of courses that have nothing to do with the day-to-day job, and I can speak to that from personal experience, there are a lot of courses that just fill up my units," she said.

Degrees are becoming so expensive

Rachel dropped out of her engineering degree after three years because she was worried she would never be able to pay off her HECS debt.

"I was having some doubts with the quality of the education that I was receiving," she said. "It was the impending debt that I was incurring. So I just became overwhelmed with what was happening."

Saksham, who is doing a degree in aerospace engineering, added that a lot of his learning materials were available online, which makes him question what his money is going towards.

"It comes down to the fact that some of the courses ... like they could be structured much better," he said. "I feel like [it's] definitely is a little expensive."

Australian National University Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Andrew Norton, told the SBS programme that uni courses had skyrocketed in price over the last few decades.

University study was free between 1979 and 1984, but he said that when the HECS system was first introduced, it was only about $4,500 per year and close to $15,000 for a three-year degree.

But now it can cost arts or business students upwards of $50,000 for the same course.

University vs AI and outsourcing

Megan, who didn't want to show her face in the Insight episode, revealed how she had used artificial intelligence to help her university studies.

While the likes of ChatGPT weren't getting her high distinctions, she said it helped her understand the coursework better.

Celine and Saksham added that they know of many students at their respective universities who were using AI to cheat their way through their degrees.

But Megan and Saksham said some courses have incorporated AI tools into their learning.

Mohan Dhall, a University of Technology Sydney lecturer, told the programme that artificial intelligence had become very popular amongst students to pump out their course work.

But he said another major problem confronting universities was students outsourcing their work to others in exchange for payment.

"Universities are allowing, through the processes they implement, student work to get through that should be caught," he said. "Students and academics tell me [that] profit comes before academic standards, and that's an issue."

Degrees aren't a big priority for some fields

While there are some careers like medicine, law and engineering where that piece of paper at the end of a degree is absolutely necessary, some jobs don't look at university study as intensely, according to recruitment expert Graham Wynn.

He explained on Insight that employers in some fields in Australia don't place as much care in a degree when they're looking through piles of job applications.

"We get a lot of employers when we ask about what qualifications do you want, they'll simply say, 'We don't'," he said.

He also raised concerns about the quality of some universities in what they were teaching the future workers of Australia.

"I think we've got a real issue in our education that we're not actually teaching people anything," he explained.

"We actually teach them how to do research and look things up themselves, rather than teaching them 'Do you know this?' because that's what they need in the future.

"They need to know it, not just how to get AI to tell them or to Google it on YouTube... I don't think we're teaching enough at this stage about that."

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