This Month
Fixing the ‘crisis’ of Australian universities
Higher education, in the words of one expert, is in “serious trouble”. Can Jason Clare, regarded as the nicest minister in Canberra, fix the system?
‘It’s difficult times,’ new uni boss admits
If Professor Max Lu has a sense of deja vu, it’s understandable. He’s been through Brexit, but now he’s got to untangle Wollongong from its many troubles.
Unis rake in record foreign student revenues ahead of crackdown
New figures reveal record highs in both the number of overseas students enrolled in 2024, as well as the cash flowing to some universities from tuition fees.
May
Fail: University degree targets ‘can’t be met’
On current trajectories and with falling funding, enrolments could be lower by the end of the decade than today.
The stage of life Australians can’t afford to ignore
Kate Carnell says federal funds for end-of-life planning would reduce costly hospitalisations and prevent unnecessary suffering.
April
Callum’s $78k student debt is proof HECS is broken
Young people are facing record, unsustainable HECS debts due to an unfair student loan system, says independent senator David Pocock.
$10k and rife with cheating: Judge blasts mandatory lawyers’ course
A survey commissioned by NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell has revealed deep dissatisfaction about the compulsory legal training regime.
March
How this engineering student will graduate debt-free from RMIT
Thomas Radon, 18, is one of more than 1000 students on a new model that lets him get paid while he’s studying.
February
CBA’s Comyn says student debt tweak helps but housing supply is key
The bank CEO was echoed by HECS architect Bruce Chapman, who said Jim Chalmers’ changes made sense but fixing home affordability required more residences.
Chalmers instructs banks to loosen home loan rules for HECS debts
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has instructed the prudential regulator to relax how HECS is treated when banks conduct mortgage serviceability tests.
$80,000 debt is only part of cost crisis hitting students hard
Jasmine O’Brien is in the second of a five-year degree, holds down two jobs and worries about what her student debt will be when she finally graduates.
December 2024
HECS architect wants student debt ignored when assessing home loans
Bruce Chapman, who created the income-contingent loan system for students, has hit out at the political fiddling the system has faced.
November 2024
‘I’m not going to say no to a nice salary’: outgoing Melbourne Uni boss
Duncan Maskell rejects criticism of million-dollar pay packets for vice chancellors, hits back at claims there are too many overseas students, and insists a university education should be free.
These three scenarios show how HECS debt hits your borrowing capacity
Instead of paying his student loan down faster with extra repayments, this 26-year-old chose to divert his savings to build a house deposit. It paid off.
Why do arts students pay more than medical students?
Australia’s university sector will mark an expensive milestone with the $50,000 arts degree, but the changes might not be helping students or the economy.
Greens plan to cancel student debt unfair to poor, says HECS architect
In what looks like an act of one-upmanship, the Greens will promise to cancel all student debt, not just 20 per cent like Labor. Experts say the idea stinks.
$16b uni student debt fix helps men more than women
Those paying tertiary fees will have to wait until at least 2027 for the overhaul, as analysis shows it will assist male graduates erase their liability sooner.
Cheaper arts degrees after Labor ‘unscrambles’ uni fees
The Albanese government is poised to unveil permanent measures to lower student debt, on top of the one-off $16 billion reduction.
Why Australia’s happiest students have the highest HECS debt
There is a powerful correlation between size and satisfaction when it comes to universities.
PM’s plan to spend Labor’s way out of trouble
Over the weekend we saw the emergence of a plan, or at least the latest plan, to try to shift the government out of its torpor.