Nelson's higher education changes act to block the path out of poverty

The elite and research-intensive universities are most likely to increase HECS fees by the full 30 per cent and to fill a larger number of full-fee paying places.

Students from richer families will be able to enter via the back door courtesy of a big cheque.

Theoretically, poorer students now have the option of also buying themselves a full-fee paying place at university.

The Minister for Education argues that by introducing a loan scheme - FEE-HELP - for full-fee paying students he has bridged the equity gap.

But the reality is that few students from poor families would readily take on an interest-bearing debt of up to $50,000 to finance their university education.

The $50,000 cap on these loans is justifiable in the sense that it will help prevent student debt rising to ridiculous levels, but it is unfair that courses costing over this amount, such as medicine, will remain inaccessible to poor students who miss out on a HECS place.

Where a poorer student takes on a FEE-HELP loan in order to access a university place, then the even more inequitable situation will arise whereby lower-income students will be paying full fees while higher-income students will receive cheaper, interest free HECS places.

The other important dimension to undertaking a university education is the ability to be able to support oneself, or have financial support, while studying.

Forty-one per cent of high-school students from low-income families believe their families could not afford the costs of supporting them at university.

This appears to be an increasing issue for existing and potential students with a recent significant fall in the number of young students receiving Youth Allowance.

Young people in poorer families are either forgoing a university education or are delaying undertaking study until they are able to find better financial support.

The government's proposed system of merit-based scholarships to students from low-income families, and accommodation scholarships for rural students will only partly help.