Fiscal Review Committee calls for inquiry into govt funding of tertiary education through TELS and similar schemes

There must be an inquiry into government funding of tertiary education through the Tertiary Education Loans Scheme and similar schemes, including its impact on the quality of tertiary education.

This has been highlighted by the Fiscal Review Committee which says hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds appear to have been advanced with little or no prospect of recovery and poor planning on how to achieve recovery.

They say the facts must be ascertained and made public, together with a summary of lessons learned for better targeted, more effective and equitable support for tertiary education in future.

They further say TELS has been the subject of significant political interest and some submissions expressed concern about the loss of value to government arising from the promised write off of TELS indebtedness.

The report says from very brief inquiries, it appears that this loss has, to all intents, already occurred. It says as of 31st March this year, TELS had more than $621.8 million loans to be repaid, representing education loans to 55,410 students.

The report says total TELS recoveries (principal and interest) for the years 2018 to 2022 (including the take-up of a 50% discount on loan balance if the student obtains bank refinancing) have averaged less than $5 million per year.