The Cost of Producing the Extra 217,000 Graduates Targeted by the Government for 2025. (June 23,2010)

Education Investment Fund (EIF) chairman Phil Clark has told The Australian's Andrew Trounson that the estimated $19 billion required to support those additional 217,000 graduates being targeted by the government by 2025 are greatly exaggerated because it did not take into account the "potential for universities to improve completion rates, make better use of existing infrastructure or lease temporary space, as well as the potential of online delivery".

Mr Clark reckons $6.9 billion spread over 10-15 years was quite feasible. Speaking to the University Planning and Design Summit in Sydney he ventured: "I bet every university has buildings that are currently under-utilised."

Mind you, there is a degree of self-interest in Mr Clark's view because he has warned that the EIF could not be relied on to meet the capacity challenge because it was also focused, quite rightly, on funding transformative projects in research and high quality teaching.

Is EIF the magic bullet to provide support for all this growth?

That decision is obviously a matter for government but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

We are very comfortable with that increasing emphasis on capacity building. But we don't want to see the whole focus for EIF shifted away from funding transformative, strategic projects to just funding growth for growth's sake.

Let's not forget, the attainment target doesn't have to be met overnight and the quality of teaching environments remains of paramount importance.

Overall university funding still remains in the realm of considerable uncertainty. The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, has stated: "There isn't a regular cycle. In that sense the government makes periodic decisions about when this kind of transformational capital injection is required. But if you look at our record as a government, we have taken very seriously the need to invest in universities and vocational education and training."

However, not until the government is prepared to compare its support for the university sector to that of the best of its OECD cohort is it leaving the sphere of spin and making an objective assessment.

Currently, Universities Australia is lobbying for ongoing annual disbursements of $500m-$900m.