Raising the Stakes Gambling with the Future of Universities

This fully revised new edition probes the state of Australian higher education and its future. Peter Coaldrake and Lawrence Stedman’s seminal and comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by the higher education sector has been updated with revisions and a new chapter that addresses current policy and proposed reforms. They argue that neither the market nor central government will be able to shape higher education in an optimal way. Facing greater competition and reduced prospects for public funding, universities themselves must provide the impetus and take responsibility for change as they adapt to complex and uncertain futures.

Professor Peter Coaldrake is Vice Chancellor and President of Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a position he has held since 2003. A dual Fulbright Scholar, he served as Chair of Universities Australia, the peak body of Australia’s universities, for a two-year term to May 2011. Dr Lawrence Stedman is Principal Policy Adviser within QUT’s Chancellery. In addition to the first edition of this book, Coaldrake and Stedman previously co-authored On the Brink: Australia’s universities confronting their future.