University of Canberra optometry students say they were blindsided by a decision to make all master's students pay full fees for the two-year course.
From 2024, the master of optometry will cost $72,000 for two years because the university will no longer offer any government-subsidised places in the course.
Current master's students are paying about $16,600 for the full course with a Commonwealth Supported Place.
Faculty of health executive dean Michelle Lincoln said a decision was made in 2021-22 to make post graduate entry to all practice health courses full fee paying due to a cap on funding in the Job Ready Graduates Scheme.
Professor Lincoln said the master of optometry students who were enrolled in the bachelor of vision science before 2021 were grandfathered and offered subsidised places.
However, the first students to face the fee hike in 2024 were already enrolled in their first year of the bachelor of vision sciences in 2021.
The current undergraduate students say they were not aware of the significant fee change and that many of them will go above the $113,000 limit for their HELP loan.
More than 70 students signed a letter to the university to urge that the fee rise be reversed.
"We're honestly just blindsided because had we known that we would have gone for a different option," one third-year student said.
Another student said they only found out about the fee change when a friend told them the website for the course had been updated.
"The lack of communication and transparency leading up to this sudden change has been deeply disappointing," they said.
"It appears that this increase may have been planned for some time, yet many of us were caught completely off guard."
A master of optometry is essential to become a qualified optometrist and it would be costly and complicated for students to move interstate to get a subsidised position, the student said.
Professor Lincoln said the university prioritised undergraduate courses for its limited number of Commonwealth supported places to give as many students as possible the opportunity to get a university degree.
"The master of optometry students were advised when the original decision was made in 2021 and are encouraged to monitor the University of Canberra's website for any fee-related matters," she said.
"Students who have completed additional university study outside of the bachelor of vision sciences and master of optometry may reach their HELP loan limit.
"We encourage students to consider and manage their financial situations."
Professor Lincoln said the optometry clinic received $200,000 worth of equipment from Specsavers and a $10,000 donation of equipment from Heine Optotechnik last year.
"We do not expect students to move to other universities as the students have been aware of the fees for the master of optometry course for the past three years," she said.
"Students are also aware that they are likely to receive one of the highest starting salaries of all allied health graduates."
From next year, optometry will be the university's second most expensive health postgraduate degree per unit after the master of physiotherapy.
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