DON'T EXPECT the university vice-chancellors to stand up for publicly-funded education. The "sandstones"-Melbourne, Sydney, UWA and UQ-expect to get richly rewarded as the sector goes private.

Public funding is being replaced by private donation-if you can get it. Under the Howard government the Commonwealth contribution to universities has dropped from 60 to 40 per cent.

The budget builds on the so-called Melbourne Model launched by University of Melbourne in April. Melbourne University Vice-Chancellor, Glyn Davis, wants an elite US-style two-tier graduate school based on full-fees paying students, with fees up to $25,000 a year.

The new system will begin next year after abolishing 96 undergraduate courses including Medicine and Law, replacing them with three years of generalist undergraduate study followed by three or four years specialised postgraduate work to achieve a Masters or Doctorate.

Yes, that's six or seven years before you can start earning. Courses that don't fit into the money spinning agenda will be scrapped, such as Gender Studies.

Students are understandably angry at this $100 million model. The celebratory dinner to launch it had to be abandoned due to a lively protest by 200 students.

Judy McVey and Graham Hastings