Australian Higher Education: Regional Universities under a Coalition Government

Projected student enrolment growth places the Australian higher education system on the precipice of significant change, leading tophilosophical debates about how the system should respond. One suggested policy change is that resources be redirected from non-researchintensive regional universities to other providers. The Liberal Party is the senior partner in any future Coalition Government, and itseducation spokesperson has outlined a vision for Australian higher education which contemplates the closure of some regional universitiesand the diminution in status of others to teaching-only institutions. However, the Liberal Party's policy proposals are likely to be counteredby political and economic considerations that make them unlikely to succeed. The confidence in regional universities' continuance asboth teaching and research institutions expressed in this article is presented not as an apology for their public support, but as a pragmaticdemonstration that there are sufficient market and political rationales to protect and justify their presence and form.