Degree in poverty is not a rite of passage

As costs soar, student income support stagnates.

Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations president Natasha Abrahams.

Living poor while studying is seen by some as a rite of passage. However, the magnitude of student poverty has shifted from the time most politicians did their degrees.

Some look fondly on the time they lived in a share-house near their university, cooking cheap meals, working across the summer to cover their expenses, and graduating debt-free.

Today’s reality is starkly different. Tuition fees, rent and the cost of living have soared. Graduates are burdened with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt, from undergraduate degrees alone.

The cost of postgraduate study, which has become a minimum requirement for many professions, is unregulated — graduates routinely leave university $100,000 in debt.

Textbooks are considered a luxury as students struggle to pay for necessities. Those who attend urban universities often must commute long distances because they cannot afford to rent nearby.

An alarming number of students cannot even afford to eat. Last year’s Universities Australia Student Finances survey found that one in seven students regularly skipped meals because of their financial position — a result it also found five years previous. The federal government is aware that student poverty is at a crisis point and has taken no action.

At the same time as costs have increased, student income support has stagnated. There has been no real increase to Centrelink entitlements in decades. Moreover, not all full-time domestic students can access Centrelink study payments when they need to.

Study payments are a universal entitlement for undergraduate students at public univer­sities. However, students in 72 per cent of masters-level courses at public universities are not eligible to apply for study payments, regardless of their income level.

Research students are not eligible for Centrelink study payments either, with support available only through securing a competitive scholarship. For the most part, domestic postgraduate students are locked out of income support.

A full-time student’s first priority should be completing and succeeding in their degree, but many must prioritise paid work so they can keep food in their belly and a roof over their head.

Many international students also face financial hardship. They must pay extortionate tuition fees upfront, and many are unprepared for the high cost of living in Australia.

Despite perceptions that international students are wealthy, this is not the reality for most. Half of international students are anxious about their ­financial situation and, similar to domestic students, about one in seven regularly cannot afford meals.

Some students are fortunate to have family that can help them. About half of full-time domestic postgraduate students receive fin­ancial support from their family or partner (according to the Universities Australia survey). Those who have little or no income and whose families cannot extend support must find ­alternative ways to meet their costs, including seeking out food banks and other forms of charity.

The federal government’s policy on student poverty has been to ignore the issue. Universities have a duty of care towards their students, but their emergency welfare provisions are disappointing.

I searched for emergency welfare services available at each of Australia’s universities. At most universities, the only support available is a short-term loan with low or no interest.

Typically, a student can borrow $500 to $2000 in a means-tested loan, which may have a significant processing time.

A few universities also have means-tested grants schemes for those who would be unable to pay back a loan.

Shockingly, at eight universities there is no form of support available for students experiencing emergencies.

Student associations step in where they can to assist those in crisis. Several universities have student guilds that run food banks where students can stock up on basics.

Western Australia is the only state in which student guilds ­receive guaranteed funding.

Free breakfast programs are also popular on some campuses, available to those in need as well as the wider campus ­community.

There are efforts by student associations to help students become more self-sufficient and avoid the need to draw on welfare programs.

For example, the Monash Postgraduate Association has created employment opportun­ities within the association, with international students given priority because of the challenges they face in obtaining paid work. Their postgraduate employment program consists of 15 casual receptionist positions, offered on a one-year basis, to assist students in building their skills to secure further employment — and earn money while doing so.

One student employed through this program said: “I’ve learned a lot working in the MPA office, the staff are really warm and welcoming, and it gives me a nice break from working on my thesis. The extra money I earn makes a huge difference to me as it basically covers the cost of my food, and because my scholarship is about to run out, it will soon ­become a vital source of income.”

Students experiencing poverty are sadly relying on charities external to the university community. When volunteering for the day at a cafe for the homeless, I was saddened to see that many of the cafe guests were university students. Postgraduate student associations nationwide have reported they regularly encounter students experiencing homelessness, but the support ser­vices available for homeless students are incredibly limited.

Only three universities have emergency accommodation schemes for students experiencing homelessness.

Not being able to afford food or shelter should not be part of student life. The income support system is broken when students are missing meals, sleeping in ­libraries and leaning on charities.

Natasha Abrahams is national president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.