Aussie Unis Hit Back At Government’s HELP Debt Proposals: Find Out What Yours Had To Say

Back in May, the Government’s offered some suggestions to cut student debt from its current standing at $42 billion.

They included lowering the individual HELP repayment threshold from $54,126 to around $40,000 and conducting a “household means test” (incorporating not just your income but potentially those you live with, such as parents or partners) to decide when students should start repayments.

Also proposed: increasing the cost of popular, "Flagship" courses (through partial deregulation, which basically involves unis giving up public funding in exchange for setting their own course prices) and claiming HECS debts from the dead.

Well, yesterday, the Federal Department of Education released submissions from Australian universities in response to the proposals. And it turns out, they’re not chill with them. Not at all.

The University of Technology Sydney was particularly critical of the decision to partially deregulate “flagship courses”, saying, “[This has] a high potential to create an elitist, two-tiered university system—disadvantaged groups will be adversely affected in terms of aspiration and capacity to access flagship courses due to the inevitably higher student contributions required.”

The University of Sydney and Western Sydney University echoed those concerns, while Melbourne University suggested the proposal could be an “important mechanism to drive diversity and student choice in the sector,” before conceding it could “further distort incentives for universities and not deliver the desired innovation in quality education”.

The University of Western Australia was “cautious” about the “flagship courses”, pointing out that “it is unclear what process and criteria would be used to select flagship courses and how this model will deliver an equitable and sustainable funding model for the sector going forward.”

Curtin University, also in WA, flat out rejected the proposal, saying it is “not supportive of the introduction of a Flagship courses model,” as it “has the potential to further exacerbate sector inequality”. Curtin also rejected the recovery of debts from deceased estates.

The Group of Eight (comprised of Australia’s leading universities), noted their own caution about the ‘Flagship Courses’ program, saying, “It is unclear how the introduction of Flagship courses would increase participation rates for students from low SES, ATSI, and rural and regional backgrounds”.

Victoria University criticised the plan to lower the HELP repayment threshold, “given the impact on low-income families,” though it was open to “higher income earners potentially [being] charged at a higher rate for repayment”.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham and an expert advisory panel are now reviewing the submissions, ahead of the federal government releasing their final recommendations for the sector.

To find out where your school stands on the proposals, read their submissions here.

Photo: iStock.