Carr goes off half-cocked on university applications

Senator Carr has again embarrassed himself by using preliminary data to suggest a drop off in university applications. The early data he quotes cannot be used to draw any meaningful conclusion of final enrolment numbers which will only be finalised in March next year. As a former Higher Education Minister, Senator Carr should know it. Senator Carr would also know that New South Wales is showing an increase in student applications compared with last year in the same data. As was pointed out by Education Department officials in estimates last night there are many variables in application data, which only reflects who applies through Tertiary Admissions Centres. It doesn’t include students applying directly to the universities and non-university higher education providers, a number that has been growing. In 2013 applications at this same time of year showed no growth, but commencing enrolments were subsequently five per cent up. Year on year, application data is also profoundly affected by what courses unis offer – thousands of such changes are made every year. Applications are clearly on trend, the market is responding well to the reforms, and to draw the conclusion that “the market is down” ignores the facts spectacularly. This sort of cheap scaremongering further illustrates how Senator Carr is desperately out of touch with what Universities are crying out for: reform that the Government’s higher education package offers.