Terms of Reference for the Review of the Higher Education Provider Category Standards

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The review of the Higher Education Provider Category Standards will:

  1. Assess the effectiveness of the current Provider Category Standards as a framework for higher education delivery
  2. Identify any technical or other relatively minor changes that should be made in the short-term to improve the operation or effectiveness of the current Provider Category Standards
  3. Analyse a range of possible different systems for the categorisation of higher education institutions, drawing on international experience and recent critical analysis including:
    1. the key characteristics that are or would be relevant to defining the various categories of provider within each categorisation framework canvassed
    2. the benefits and drawbacks of each approach for students, for higher education providers, other tertiary education providers, regulators, governments and the broader economy
    3. the impact of adopting different institutional categories, for example:
      • The potential for diversity of providers and student populations in each system
      • Appropriate barriers to and facilitation of new provider entry
      • Change management and transitional issues that would need to be taken into account in moving to a new approach
  4. Outline realistic and practical options that could be considered for adoption if a revised approach to categorising higher education providers in the Australian context were deemed to be warranted
  5. Make recommendations as to:
    1. the most appropriate categorisation system for Australian higher education delivery and
    2. criteria settings within each of the recommended provider categories.

Stakeholders will be consulted as part of the review.