[LINK] 100% HECS Waiver on Various Undergraduate Certificates

[Tom Worthington]

On 11/6/21 11:36 am, Stephen Loosley wrote:

> https://www.utas.edu.au/study/certificates#faqs

The government's aim may be to get students used to studying in smaller 
chunks (six months instead of three years), which is a good idea, but 
one universities may not like.

Students are unlikely to find a six month certificate sufficient, but 
they might then enroll at another uni for further study and demand full 
credit for it. This could lead to pressure for unis to standardize 
programs, so the certificate from one is compatible with the programs 
from another (as TAFE do).
https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2020/05/undergraduate-certificates-to-be-added.html

The government has talked about micro-credentials, which are even 
shorter than certificates: weeks, rather than months. Unis are 
experimenting with these, but integrating them into a degree is 
challenging. Imagine a degree made up of micro-credentials, nested into 
  certificates, nested in diplomas: four micro-credentials make a 
certificates, diplomas, and degrees. That is how VET education works, 
but this requires administrative, teaching and educational design skills 
which most university academics don't have. 
https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/search/label/microcredential

> 100% HECS Waiver on Various Undergraduate Certificates (4 Units) from
> UTAS ...

A little misleading, as UTAS is not providing a HECS Waiver, the Federal
Government is, for students across universities. Other universities more 
accurately describe these as "Commonwealth Support Places (CSP)": 
https://science.anu.edu.au/news-events/events/graduate-certificate-webinar-series

> Job-ready certificates ...

Are there any jobs for which these new undergraduate certificates are a
suitable qualification?

> Our short, flexible qualifications will give your career a real
> boost. ...

Perhaps "career start" would be my realistic, than a boost. If you got 
into a career with a TAFE certificate then an undergraduate certificate 
is not going to get you much further. But it could be a good step from 
VET education to university.

> Best of all, you can study online ...

How else would you be studying?

> ... and without fees.

Reminds me of the Whitlam era. ;-)

> Whether you’re already a qualified professional ...

If you are a qualified professional, why would you be doing an
*undergraduate* certificate? Wouldn't you be doing a graduate one?

> ... or you’ve never studied before ...

If you have never studied before and want to be job ready, you are
better off going to TAFE. Ideally a VET institution which has a 
relationship with a university, like Federation University Australia.

> Most of our certificates are offered fully online ...

Why would there be any certificates not offered fully online?

> ... you must complete at least two units by 31 December, 2021 and the remaining
> units by 30 June, 2022 ...

Is it possible to do one unit at a time? As an online part time student 
I found doing two units at once (half a full time load) too much work.

ps: I suggest Australia lead the education component of President 
Biden's the Build Back Better World  (B3W) program, to complement, 
rather than confront, China's Belt and Road Education Plan: 
https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2021/06/education-for-better-world.html


-- 
Tom Worthington, MEd FHEA FACS CP IP3P http://www.tomw.net.au
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Honorary Lecturer, Computer Science, Australian National University
https://cecs.anu.edu.au/research/profile/tom-worthington