Children of middle class Australian families risk being priced out of a university education as a result of the federal government's reforms, the University of Sydney's vice chancellor says.
Dr Michael Spence, a supporter of uncapped fee deregulation, said a national conversation was needed to ensure access to the elite institutions on academic merit alone.
Dr Spence's intervention into the national debate for the first time came as Prime Minister Tony Abbott claimed during a radio interview on Wednesday that only students who begin university in 2016 would be affected by a deregulation of course fees. Mr Abbott's claim is contradicted by the university sector and the federal Education Department.
Fairfax Media has revealed that university leaders fear up to 160,000 school leavers could be forced to select courses without knowing if they will pay tens of thousands of dollars in extra fees.
Shortly before thousands of students joined a rally against education reforms in central Sydney, Mr Abbott told ABC radio: ''If you start a course under one system you will finish it under one system.
''If you start next year your conditions of study won't change. It's only for those who start when these changes kick in 2016 that will have the different conditions applying to them.''
But a Department of Education spokesman said: ''Students who enrol in Commonwealth supported places after 13 May, 2014, will be charged under the existing arrangements until 31 December 2015. After this date they will be charged under the new arrangements, as determined by their university or … institution.''
A student starting university in 2015 would pay two years of deregulated fees, not three years of capped fees as Mr Abbott said.
Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Ian Young said Mr Abbott's comments did not reflect the government's stated policy.
In an interview with Fairfax Media, Dr Spence said Mr Abbott had only provided a ''partial response'' to question marks over merit-based higher education. He said he wanted his university to emulate overseas institutions like Harvard, which has ''huge fees'', but entry based on academic merit only with varying levels of scholarship support to ensure all tiers of society were represented, but with wealthier students paying considerably higher fees.
''I want the best students, not only those who can afford to pay,'' Dr Spence said.
''It's the ordinary Australians that I think aren't getting enough of a guernsey in this conversation.
''I don't think social justice requires everyone to pay the same fee [in a deregulated system]. In fact it requires people to pay different amounts depending on their ability to pay.''
The University of Sydney senate, its governing authority, is yet to determine its final position on the Federal government changes.
He said that the deregulation of undergraduate fees meant that government funding for each Commonwealth-supported student would be cut by an average 20 per cent, and universities would be free to decide their own fees for undergraduate courses.
