Half a century ago the image of the average university student was very different from today. Students from poor families struggled to " put themselves through university " by working part time jobs - and getting by on little money.
Since then there has been a huge influx of fee paying overseas students and Australian students have the opportunity to defer fees under the HECS scheme until after they graduate and get a well paying job.
The problem is that students at university still need living expenses. In some cases they need to live away from home and with this recession jobs are hard to find. As a result, the opportunity to attend university has narrowed - and in many cases is out of reach for children from lower socio-economic families.
Now there are moves to open university life and attract students from disadvantaged backgrounds - and $ 5.6 million has been allocated for this purpose.
As usual, the devil will be in the detail. The problem will be how to spend the money by targetting the intended people ? The first tool that government's usually choose is means testing. Invariably there are screams of pain from those who just miss out on qualification - and pressure to widen the net.
It would be nice if all who qualify could attend university. Even if universities were free there would be a segment unable to find living expenses, and it is these that this plan is intended to help.
Just how the money can be applied - and how it can be directed to those with the greatest need will test the innovation of the people tasked with planning the scheme's implementation.
Unfortunately - on past experience - politics has a determining effect on the results and pressure forces the criteria to expand with the result that too little money reaches the intended target.
Let us hope that this time wise heads prevail - and we get this one right !
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