2020 – 2025

Do Economies of Scale Exist in Australian Universities?

2020 - 2025 / 11/11/2025 / australian higher education

Australia has, on average, some of the largest universities in the English-speaking world. Some might speculate that this is an idiosyncratic outcome of the Australian education funding approach. While this is possible, even likely, the effect of global ranking algorithms may also factor into this. Those who have attempted to reverse engineer the three or four largest rankings appear to recognise that controlling for scale is a near-impossible task.

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Four universities sit at the top of teaching and research efficiency

2020 - 2025 / 16/07/2024 / australian higher education, newspaper article, the australian

Earlier this year, the Higher Education and Research Group released its latest annual analysis of the productivity of the Australian university sector, including, for the first time, the three large private universities.

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Accurate measurement of university costs is essential

2020 - 2025 / 10/04/2024 / australian higher education, newspaper article, the australian

There is growing anticipation that the federal government’s response to the Universities Accord review’s final report will come soon. Given this and the fact that the budget is less than a month away, it is timely to review one of the final report’s key insights.

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University of Sydney is a standout in productivity growth

2020 - 2025 / 21/02/2024 / australian higher education, newspaper article, the australian

Recently released analysis finds that one large Group of Eight university outperformed other public universities in its research and education productivity outcomes during the pandemic.

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MEASURING UNIVERSITY COSTS: SOLVING THE JOINT AND COMMON COST PROBLEM

2020 - 2025, Explainer Series / 05/01/2024 / download, explainer series

The joint and common cost problem arises where there are two or more outputs that arise from costs that are shared in the production of these outputs.
In many situations, the ability to assign costs to these two or more outputs is not complex. But there are instances where it is highly complex. In these situations, there is a need to use advanced analytics to provide a valid and reliable estimate of costs.

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UNIVERSITY COST MEASUREMENT and PRODUCTIVITY ASSESSMENT: Introducing the Research and Education Efficiency Frontier (REEF) Methodology

2020 - 2025, Explainer Series / 05/01/2024 / download, explainer series

The need to measure costs and productivity in higher education is crucial for the effective and efficient use of resources.

UNIVERSITY COST MEASUREMENT and PRODUCTIVITY ASSESSMENT: Introducing the Research and Education Efficiency Frontier (REEF) Methodology Read More »

An international student levy could ease the research funding squeeze

2020 - 2025 / 22/11/2023 / australian higher education, newspaper article, the australian

Last week in The Australian, Australian National University economics professors Bruce Chapman and Rabee Tourky reignited a debate about a levy on international student tuition revenue (“Universities should pay levy on ‘foreign student industry’ ”, 15/11).

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Universities should be encouraged to specialise in what they do best

2020 - 2025 / 30/08/2023 / australian higher education, newspaper article, the australian

For several weeks, those interested in higher education have been contemplating the interim report of the Universities Accord review.

The report makes many insightful and far-reaching observations. Undoubtedly it will be a turning point for important aspects of the educational offerings within our public universities.

Universities should be encouraged to specialise in what they do best Read More »

Parliamentary inquiry must fill the information gap on SA’s uni merger

2020 - 2025 / 13/07/2023 / australian higher education, newspaper article, public commentary, the australian

It’s now virtually certain that the South Australian Legislative Council, the state’s upper house, will initiate a parliamentary inquiry into the planned merger of the state’s two largest universities.

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Productivity is the crucial, but unmentioned, word in the SA uni merger

2020 - 2025 / 07/02/2023 / australian higher education, newspaper article, public commentary, the australian

For several years economist Keith Houghton, a former business and economics dean at the Australian National University, has been gathering data on the productivity performance of Australian universities to give a picture of the efficiency of their research and the efficiency of their teaching.

Productivity is the crucial, but unmentioned, word in the SA uni merger Read More »