An Arts student at the University of Adelaide got a shock recently when he received his student fees.

While his language and linguistics subjects were all around $500 per semester, the fees he was expected to pay for his history subjects were very different – over $2000 each for a single semester.

This has nothing to do with the university’s policies. These inflated fees for humanities subjects such as history are mandated by the Federal Government. They were introduced by the Morrison Liberal Government late in its term, and have been retained by Labor. And they are now creating crippling levels of debt for many Australian students.

Called the ‘Job Ready Graduates Policy’, the lopsided fee structure has nothing to do with employment outcomes. Humanities degrees, in fact, have better employment outcomes than many STEM degrees.

The peak body, Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DASSH), released a report recently confirming that 91% of Australian employers were happy with the skills offered by humanities, arts and social science graduates, while 90% of those graduates are in full-time employment within three years of graduation. They are employed in well-paid jobs, too, with an average salary of $82,000 p.a. three years after graduating.

Far from impractical avenues of study, history and associated humanities subjects offer great, high-paying jobs. Unfortunately, the grossly distorted fee structure of the policy sees some Arts students, like those studying history, pay up to twice the fees of their fellow students.

The History Council of South Australia is calling on the Federal Education Minister Jason Clare to end the unfair policy, which looks very much like an attempt to target history programs.

In a recent letter, we reminded Minister Clare of the enormous social, cultural and civic value of humanities subjects such as history. We live in a society in which our democracy is under threat. Our capacity for public debate rests upon the analytical skills offered by the humanities.

The policy isn’t deterring students. It’s merely adding to their debt burden

The current policy discriminates against students from low-income communities who want to study and work in humanities-related fields. Only students from well-off families now feel they can afford what is fast becoming a $50,000 degree. Quoting Senator Jacqui Lambie from 2020, we agree the government is effectively telling low-income students that “no matter how gifted, no matter how determined you are, you might as well dream a little cheaper, because you’re never going to make it, because you can’t afford it”.

The Australian Universities Accord Final Report from February this year argued that the Job Ready Graduates Policy’s “purpose of providing price signals to influence student subject choices has failed”. The policy isn’t deterring students. It’s merely adding to their debt burden. It’s also failing to reflect the fact that history is one of the cheapest subjects to teach.

These fees, by design, simply impose heavy debt on the best and brightest from low-income and marginalised communities who are already baulking at high student debt levels in a cost of living crisis.

The History Council of South Australia urges the Albanese Government to scrap its discriminatory higher education policy and introduce a fee structure that does not penalise budding young historians and professionals. The Jobs Ready Graduates Policy must be relegated to history.

Professor Matthew Fitzpatrick is president, History Council of South Australia