illuminating science

Labor (the governmet party in Australia that’s sorta kinda like the Democrats in the US) today announced that if they’re elected next year they will eliminate full fee paying positions from Australian universities and reduce the cost of HECS, as well as increase funding to Universities. (Quick background: Australian students get given an interest free loan scheme to go to University, known as HECS. This covers the student contribution to higher education (~$5000/yr, about 25%) with the government paying the rest. You then only need to pay back the loan when your salary reaches a certain level, and then repayments are taken out as an extra tax. Note that although the loan is interest free, it is indexed to inflation (2%ish) - so your debt when you start repaying is the same as it would be for a student who just graduated that year.)

So, my opinions on these (and keep in mind, I actually vote Labor…):

Reducing HECS Labor says “Australian students can no longer afford their courses because of government under-funding” and that “rising cost of tertiary education is deterring young people from going to uni”. Bull. If you’re being deterred from going to Uni on the basis of HECS debts, then you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed and it’s natural selectrion in action! You only pay the HECS back when you start earning enough money, and it’s a decent salary too. Odds are good (though by no means guaranteed) that a degree will get you into a position where you can afford to pay off that debt, and that you’ll be earning more than someone who doesn’t have a degree. If you don’t earn enough, then you don’t pay it back - so why worry?

Even more pertinent is that different universities can charge you different (HECS) fees. My advice? Go to the best university you can - if they charge you $7000 instead of $3000, you’ll end up with a debt of $2000 instead of $1000 - who cares? It’s likely you’ve gotten a better education, better exposure, better job opportunities, etc. Obviously, if the cheaper university fits you better - go there! But don’t let HECS in any way affect your decision.

Finally, I think we should have to contribute something to our education. We’re likely going to earn more later (though yes, we’ll of course pay more back in tax) and, ultimately, it’s pretty cheap. Especially compared to our American counterparts!

Full fee paying positions. Originally, the idea is that students are allocated to places on the basis of their marks and receive their HECS loans, end of story. In a controversial move recently, Universities were allowed to then offer an additional number of full fee paying places which are not funded by HECS. Instead, you have to pay the full fee upfront. The government does offer loans to cover these, but you pay CPI+3.5% (so about 5.5%ish).

I know I said don’t worry about money, and the idea here is that if you’re really keen to get into this course you’ll pay what you need to, and hope to recoup it later. But if you didn’t get the marks you needed to get into the course on your own merit, you need to think about your options. Is this really a course you can do? If so, why not do a year of another course first, work your butt off, and then upgrade It’s very doable, and far easier to get in than straight from school. Basically, full fee paying places means that students who are willing to accrue massive debts, or have a rich Mummy or Daddy, are granted places over those students who are in fact more qualified than them. I don’t think this is fair, either to the full fee students or the HECS students, and I agree with it being abolished.