This page contains information for short courses, National Priority Places and Innovative Places. It also contains frequently asked questions on the course places.
Rollover of 2021 short course funding into 2022
On 7 December 2021, the Australian Government announced that it will continue supporting universities and non-university higher education providers (NUHEPs) to deliver innovative industry-focused short courses in 2022.
In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 Budgets, the Government provided funding for short courses to give Australians more opportunities to upskill and retrain in 2021, including in areas of national priority. Unspent 2021 short course funding will be rolled over to 2022.
For 2022, universities will be permitted to roll over and use up to 85 per cent of their 2021 short course funding allocation. NUHEPs will be permitted to roll over their full 2021 short course allocation.
Short courses delivered in 2022 can lead to the award of an Undergraduate Certificate or Graduate Certificate. This reflects the extension of the Undergraduate Certificate as a qualification in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) until 30 June 2025.
Providers can continue to deliver already approved short courses. Any new courses will be subject to an assessment process in early 2022. New courses must target areas of industry need and contribute to greater university-industry collaboration.
The Department will contact providers with additional information in December 2021.
Please refer any further questions regarding support for short courses in 2022 to CGS@education.gov.au.
Information on previous funding allocations of short courses, National Priority Places and Innovative Places
The Australian Government’s Job-ready Graduates (JRG) package of reforms to higher education received Royal Assent on 27 October 2020. Under the package, the government provided resources to higher education providers as follows:
- 47,500 higher education short course Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) (23,750 EFTSL) to be delivered in 2021 – all disciplines, all TEQSA registered universities
- 2,500 higher education short course Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) (1,250 EFTSL) to be delivered in 2021 – restricted to national priority courses as per 2020, non-university higher education providers (NUHEPs)
- 12,000 commencing undergraduate CSPs in 2021 for national priorities with further pipeline places – all TEQSA registered universities
- 300 places for 2021 for national priorities (Innovative places), with pipelines places following – all TEQSA registered universities
On 30 April 2021 the Government announced a further package of measures to support the NUHEPs most affected by COVID-19 and border closures. This package included $26.1 million for 5,000 short course places for domestic students at NUHEPs for delivery in Semester 2,2021.
This was in addition to the 2,500 short course places already allocated to NUHEPs in 2021, bringing the total number to 7,500 places in 2021.
These short courses were not restricted by field of education or mode of delivery. As with the previous 2021 courses, the cost of these courses is aligned to the cluster rates and student contribution amounts specified within the JRG package. Students can still defer their upfront costs through HELP.
Applications for the Semester 2, 2021 allocation of short courses closed in 2021.
2021 short courses FAQs
The 2021 short course provider FAQs page provides information regarding the previous funding allocations of short courses for 2021.
The 2021 Short courses for non-university higher education providers FAQ's provides information regarding Semester 2 2021 short courses for NUHEPs.
Questions and answers during the application processes were responded to individually and published here for transparency. These FAQs pages are no longer updated.
Please refer any further questions regarding previous funding allocations for short courses in 2021 to CGS@education.gov.au.