Guidance on level of the fee for part-time and external students
42. We are aware of and acknowledge as peak bodies the legitimacy of past student complaints which occurred prior to the introduction of VSU regarding the relatively high proportion of the full-time student compulsory amenities and services fee that part-time, distance education and/or external students were in many cases required to pay.
43. For example single-parent mature-age students with young children who were enrolled on a part-time basis and attending evening lectures on-campus but with full-time employment off-campus during the day, often found little use for or time to avail of the services funded by the compulsory amenities and services fee. Yet pre-VSU these types of students were often required to pay a relatively high proportion of the fee that was payable by the full-time students.
44. We note the Minister has provided no direct guidance on this contentious issue in the Guidelines and that the Bill and the Explanatory Memorandum (EM) are also both silent on this issue.
45. We suggest the Guidelines be amended to require Providers who elect to charge the fee to have reasonable regard for the type of enrolment or mode of attendance of the student when determining what amount of fee will apply to that student.
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