Welp: Parliament Has Officially Passed Uni Fee Hikes Legislation

Sorry humanities students.

We've known for months that the government has been planning to double the cost of studying humanities at university, while decreasing the fees for "job-relevant" courses.

Why? Well the government is aiming to funnel students into courses for industries that will drive job growth, including psychology, English, languages, teaching, agriculture, maths, science, health, environmental science and architecture.

Students undertaking those courses can expect to have their fees slashed. However, people enrolling in law or commerce will have their fees raised by 28 per cent.

It's safe to say that people have been outraged by the news. In fact, protests against the fee hikes have been held across the country.

As Year 12 student Ashley Orr told Student Edge in July, humanities degrees should be accessible to all students.

"It's like a knee-jerk reaction, because [the government] thinks we need to improve the economy right now, so they're trying to force students to choose career options that are going to benefit the economy sooner rather than later," she said.

"But humanities subjects are just as important."

Despite the significant backlash, parliament passed the laws that will increase the cost of humanities degrees on Thursday.

The legislation will also remove government support for students who fail too many courses.

Those who fail more than half of their uni subjects in their first year will be cut from uni loans and subsidies. Instead, they will need to pay the full cost of their studies upfront if they want to continue their course.

There will be exemptions for special circumstances if students can demonstrate that they were adversely impacted by illness or bereavement.

The changes are opposed by Labor and the Greens, along with independent senator Jacqui Lambie.

"I'll be damned if I'll vote to tell those kids in rural and regional areas of Tasmania that they deserve to have their opportunities suffocated," she said.

"I refuse to be the vote that tells poor kids out there... no matter how gifted, no matter how determined you are, might as well dream a little cheaper, because you're never going to make it, because you can't afford it."

As reported by the ABC, the annual cost of studying law and economics, management and commerce, society and culture, humanities, communications and behavioural science will be increased to a whopping $14,500.

On the other hand, teaching, clinical psychology, English, maths, nursing, languages and agriculture will cost $3,700 annually.

Under the fee hikes, some uni degrees could take 20 years to pay of off, with humanities and communications being impacted the most.

An independent Parliamentary Library modelling commissioned by the Greens found that males studying a social science degree would take around 12 years to pay off their HELP debt compared to around six years currently. For females doing the same degree, it'd take about 14 years, compared to seven years now.