Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statement
The Australian Financial Review
Newsfeed
Newsfeed
Advertisement

HECS

September

University fees for some students have risen by 50 per cent in just five years and they are also getting slugged by indexation.

Arts, business, law students hit hardest as uni fees rise

Some university degrees have gone up by 50 per cent in just five years, while others are 50 per cent cheaper.

  • Julie Hare

August

Jason Clare’s big university targets ‘totally unrealistic’

The idea that 55 per cent of young people will have a degree by 2035 is not just unrealistic, but fails to ask students what they want.

  • Julie Hare
Nearly 14,000 current and former students will have extra loans added to their student debt.

Records glitch will hit thousands with extra HECs debt

Students could owe more than $5000 after an accounting error meant loan records from 104 tertiary education institutions were not accurately reported to the ATO.

  • Lucy Dean

July

Failures in university governance have allowed widespread wage theft, casualisation and poor student experience.

Government to unis: get governing bodies in order

Education Minister Jason Clare’s much anticipated higher education review has some harsh words about poor policy and even poorer governance.

  • Julie Hare
Younger generations are either priced out of housing or saddled with debt.

Productivity is policy for the young

It is younger generations who suffer as complacent Baby Boomers refuse to see the point of growth-driving productivity reforms.

  • Tim Wilson and Jason Falinski
Advertisement
Universities have called for more clarity on how the new arrivals caps will impact pilot programs to return international students.

Even Karl Marx didn’t fall for the ‘free’ university fallacy

Zero-fee education is a great deal for students, but not for the Australian community as a whole.

  • Richard Holden

June

Dr Sarah Dahmann, research fellow at the Melbourne Institute

HECS debt shaping graduates’ love lives

While few Australians regret taking on higher education, 50 per cent of those who borrowed to fund it say it has affected their life choices.

  • Lucy Dean
Duncan Maskell has joined a growing chorus of those who want university to be made free again.

Working-class university boss lobbies for free degrees

Not charging fees for the first year of higher education would cost about $4.3 billion a year, but Duncan Maskell argues income tax revenue would jump.

  • Julie Hare
A high starting salary or making voluntary contributions means the debt is repaid within eight years. Someone starting on a lower salary would take 14 years to repay the student loan, with much more going on indexation costs.

This is how HECS debt can balloon

In a high inflation world, if you have the capacity and the desire to help a relative repay student debt early, it will likely help grow overall family wealth.

  • Tim Mackay
Physiotherapist Isabel Edwards says it is unfair that the ATO is charging her indexation on debt she has already repaid.

Government under pressure to fix ‘egregious’ HECS indexation rule

It comes as three million graduates with student debts brace for a 7.1 per cent indexation rate which came into force on Thursday.

  • Hannah Wootton and Julie Hare

May

The government should think about implementing meaningful changes to overseas students’ visas and post-study work rights.

Crossbench demands urgent action to stop HECS indexation

HECS repayments will jump by an average of $1760 a year when indexation of 7.1 per cent comes into effect on Thursday. 

  • Tom McIlroy
Students protested outside Parliament House on budget day over rising fees, student loans and cost of living.

ATO criticised for driving up HECS debts by ‘sitting on’ repayments

Graduates are bracing for an outsized indexation increase of 7.1 per cent on student loans from June 1.

  • Hannah Wootton
Workers in aged, disability and child care will be among the beneficiaries of student loans.

Women to benefit most from new student loans

A Coalition-era policy that gave apprentices loans to pay for everyday necessities will be extended to students in occupations of the greatest skill shortage.

  • Julie Hare

Millions of HECS debts are about to soar, so should you pay yours off?

Inflation-adjusted Student debt indexation is set to jump to 7.1 per cent, meaning average annual increases of about $1800, the biggest increase in 33 years.

  • Duncan Hughes
Students protested outside Parliament House on the day of the budget over rising fees, student loans and cost of living.

Rise in HECS thresholds to give 3 million graduates a reprieve

Rising rancour over inflation hitting student loans has found some reprieve as higher thresholds will provide cost-of-living relief to many.

  • Julie Hare
Advertisement

April

Student fees are increasing by 7.1 per cent and will add 6 months to the average repayment period.

Student debt to rise 7.1pc, but it’s not all bad news

New analysis reveals graduates in the 20-29 age group will take the brunt of the increase by an average of $2069 on the median debt of $29,138.

  • Julie Hare
Rosemary Miller has been told her HECs debt could limit her borrowing capacity.

The hidden debt that many first home buyers overlook

With indexation set to hit 7 per cent this year, experts are urging Australians to check in on their student loan.

  • Lucy Dean

March

The student loan system favours women, says Professor Bruce Chapman.

HECS is ‘pro-women’, says loan system designer

A new analysis says the student loan system is particularly burdensome to women. But the man who designed it disagrees.

  • Julie Hare

February

Income-contingent loans do little to encourage poor students to undertake courses that lead to lucrative careers.

Why student loans don’t address elitism in universities

Australia needs a long-term plan that should include means-tested, free and better quality higher education.

  • Adrian Blundell-Wignall

January

Students and graduates will not be the only ones to bear the burden of massive fee increases. The government will also carry larger amounts of unpaid debt.

Uni students face 7.8pc fee increase under inflation lag

Rising university charges have been described as a political hot potato, but few thought they would rise by nearly 8 per cent.

  • Julie Hare

The Australian Financial Review Magazine

BOSS Financial Review

British beauty entrepreneur Sarah-Jane Duncanson “Trinny” Woodall at the Park Hyatt, Sydney.

Life & Leisure

Living it up, but not at The Ritz: Raffles London at The Old War Office has been restored to full baroque Edwardian elegance.

Rich List

Chemist Warehouse paid $364m in dividends in the last 12 months.