Whopping amount Qlders owe on their student fees revealed

The average university debt carried by Queensland students and graduates has soared $1700 in a year. See what they now owe.

The average university debt carried by Queensland students and graduates has soared $1700 in a year, even as a record amount of cash was splashed out on voluntary repayments in the lead up to the 7.1 per cent indexation.

Analysis of Australian Taxation Office data shows a record $2.9 billion in voluntary repayments were made by Australians with a HECS/HELP debt in 2022-23, ahead of the June 1 date when indexation added another 7.1 per cent to outstanding fees.

The total number of Queenslanders with a HECS/HELP debt has dropped slight, but despite this, the average amount owed has risen almost $1700 each in the past year.

There were 618,271 Queenslanders with a university debt of an average $25,737 in 2022-23, compared to 622,978 people owing $24,090 each.

Student debt is growing, with the average Queensland student or graduate owing $25,737 now. Picture: Navitas

It is a person’s income which determines the rate of debt repayment, not the size of their debt.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare the Australian Universities Accord, a panel made up of university, business and political representatives, was looking at a long-term plan for higher education.

He said this included both the issue of affordability and the way the whole HELP (Higher Education Loan Program) scheme works.

An interim report focused on closing the gap between areas of disadvantage was handed down in July, but a final report is due before the end of the year.

“Their interim report makes it clear that the previous government’s Job Ready Graduates Scheme hasn’t worked, and it ‘needs to be redesigned before it causes long-term and entrenched damage to Australian higher education’,” Mr Clare said.

“The Accord team is working on how to fix this and what other changes might need to be made, including the most appropriate way to reduce the volatility of the current indexation method.”

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare

Opposition education spokeswoman Senator Sarah Henderson said more than three million Australians were hit with the 7.1 per cent increase in student loans.

“The Albanese Government has no plan to fix the cost-of-living crisis so many young Australians are facing, particularly the skyrocketing cost of power, rent and food,” she said.

“Labor has even failed to fix the antiquated HEC loans scheme which fails to account for repayments in real time, driving up the cost of student debt.”

Even before the indexation, the total HECS/HELP debt held by Queenslanders had tripled in 10 years, despite the number of people with the loans only increasing by 70 per cent, as they carry significantly higher debt.

In 2012-23 the average debt held was $15,600 for Queensland students and graduates.

The previous Coalition government capped the amount of student debt that could be accrued to $113,028 for most students, or $162,336 for students studying medicine, dentistry and veterinary science.