NTEU highlights ballooning student HELP debt

11/09/2013 by
NTEU HECS banner

NTEU News    |    6 September 2013 Perhaps in anticipation of post-election fee increases, the National Tertiary Education Union  (NTEU) has launched the My Student Debt website, complete with a national calculator, to highlight ballooning student  HELP (HECS) debt. Australian students have accumulated debt from their university study of over $34 billion and the NTEU estimates that outstanding  HELP debt is increasing by $500,000 an hour  or $12 million a day. A person enrolling in an Australian university as a Commonwealth supported student will graduate with a debt for tuition fees of between $18,000 and $64,000. The NTEU says that “if you take living costs into account”, the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commonwealth policies, Government, Higher education policy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What next for universities under Abbott?

11/09/2013 by
Triumphant trio (AAP Image/Alan Porritt)

The Conversation    |    10 September 2013 The election of the Coalition government means, on the face of it, not a lot of change in the direction of higher education. In setting out the "seven pillars" of the Coalition's higher education policy earlier this year, prime minister-designate Tony Abbott indicated there would be nothing new (including money), except the New Colombo Scheme, but he did promise "stability". The Coalition education spokesperson (and presumably soon to be minister) Christopher Pyne has said the demand-driven system will remain and that a Coalition government would not be fiddling with fees. Analysts quoted in The Australian appear agreed that the level of fees will … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Government, Higher education policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,