An investigation of the relationship between total expenditure, research outputs and education outputs for Australian universities 2004–2007 reveals an intense correlation between expenditure and research outputs. The analysis is consistent with the expenditure of approximately $20,000 per student completion and $220,000 per Higher Education Data Collection publication point in 2007, with comparable values in three earlier years. It is suggested that public policy drives Australian universities to direct the maximum expenditure towards the generation of research outcomes, raising serious questions about the adequacy of funding for the student experience.

Keywords: expenditure, education, research