Government 'own-goal' on uni fees: Labor

Federal Labor has seized on a report that warns of a blowout in student loans, taking aim at government plans to deregulate course fees.

A Parliamentary Budget Office analysis predicts the cost of student debt will climb to $11 billion within a decade, as total exposure reaches $185 billion.

Opposition finance spokesman Tony Burke conceded the figures also take into account Labor's decision to open up loans to vocational education, but told ABC radio on Thursday it was a "bizarre own-goal" by the coalition whose fees proposal increased debt instead of saving money.