Millions of Australians are facing ballooning HECS debts, with indexation at a 10-year high. Uni student Ngaire Bogemann says she’s feeling 'a lot of dread'.
There were 2.9 million people with outstanding HECS-HELP debt in 2020-21, totalling more than $68.7 billion.Oscar Chaffey is a full-time medical student in Sydney with a HECS-HELP debt of almost $50,000 - and it’s only growing.
“I have two more years of studies, by which time I expect it [my debt] to inflate to well over $70,000, both due to indexation and the $10,000 - $11,000 per year student contribution to medical degrees,” Oscar said. “They’re just trying to survive and get through. And meanwhile, they have this balloon of student debt hanging over their heads,” she said.
He said the scheme - designed to help students to attend university without paying upfront fees - means the government pays a university for a place, which the student later repays, depending on their income. “If the total stock of the debt is adjusted upwards by a nominal amount of 4 per cent, that has no consequence for you in the short run,” he said.
Under the changes, fees for courses that led to jobs in sectors such as health and teaching were cut, while the cost of already-popular degrees, such as arts and law, increased. She said she pays about $450 for a French subject, and just under $2,000 for politics subjects, which can impact the overall cost of a semester.
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