OUA welcomes universities to platform as Government’s Higher Education Relief Package takes flight

Following the Easter announcement of the Morrison Government’s Higher Education Relief Package (HERP), Open Universities Australia (OUA) is pleased to announce the launch of 16 programs across 4 universities in response to its pledge to waive all fees for universities offering courses as part of the package from 1 May 2020 until 1 December 2020.

Aiming to support the industry in connecting Australians with the right courses to enable upskilling and retraining in priority areas, OUA is currently working with the likes of Curtin University, University of South Australia, Murdoch University and Griffith University to list their short courses across Health, Education, IT, Architecture, English, and Engineering & Construction—aligning with the Government’s slated priority areas.

CEO of Open Universities Australia, Stuart Elmslie, says: “We are all in this challenge together and we want to support our university partners to provide access to Higher Education regardless of geographic location, life stage or circumstance. We want to ensure all those impacted who wish to retrain, can easily connect to this opportunity as part of the government’s Higher Education Relief Package.”

Going live last week, OUA has already seen significant traffic to the site, with over 50 applications to study as part of HERP over a four-day period.

Whilst early days, Elmslie says there’s an undeniable appetite for these short courses as seen from recent website traffic and search analytics, and that the company’s focus remains unwavering.

“Our focus is to rally behind our universities during these very challenging times to help them reach as many students as possible and enable Australia to emerge stronger from this crisis.

Whilst the environment has been an immensely challenging one, we believe the HERP initiative and our ability to waive university provider fees is a great way to bridge the current access gap for universities with potential students.”

Whilst launching this week, universities who wish to host their Higher Education Relief Package short courses can continue to do so through Open Universities Australia, ensuring their courses meet the latest government regulations.

For more information, visit open.edu.au/study-online/higher-education-relief-package

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