FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses provide students with preparatory studies to gain the skills they need to get into university, without being out of pocket.
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The Australian Government will invest $350 million in additional Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding over 4 years, commencing on 1 January 2025, to deliver FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses to help more students prepare for university. This investment will provide more students with a high quality enabling pathway into higher education, focussing on students from underrepresented backgrounds.
The new arrangements will establish a consistent rate of funding for these courses. Funding will be set at $18,278 per full-time student in 2025 replacing the inconsistent mix of cluster funding and loading currently in place. This will result in a 43 per cent increase in funding per place on average, better reflecting the cost of delivering high quality courses.
Funding for additional student places will increase the number of students taking part in these courses by 40 per cent by 2030 and double the number students by 2040. By 2030 it is estimated that around 30,000 students will be studying in FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses each year.
The Government will also work with providers to professionalise and increase the quality and consistency of FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses, and seek to increase portability of credentials for students.
The Department of Education will determine allocations of additional FEE-FREE Uni Ready course places for 2025.
From 2026 FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses will become part of the new Managed Growth System overseen by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.