Tertiary education fees in Australia

HECS stands for " Higher Education Contribution Scheme " and since 2005 HELP stands for "Higher Education Loan Programs" and referred to the Australian model for the collection of tuition fees; in the German debate HECS is often translated as " system trailing tuition fees ".

In the late 1980s the Australian higher education landscape has been fundamentally restructured to allow broader layers of the population has access to higher education. Issued in 1988 detailed information about the desired reforms that include: The White Paper entitled 'A Policy Statement Higher Education ' the demand for the introduction of tuition fees included. After tuition fees were abolished in 1974, these were introduced in 1989 after the HECS nationwide again.

HECS was developed by Bruce Chapman, a professor of economics at the Australian National University in Canberra. This contribution model provides that tuition fees will be financed by a government loan and the repayment starts only after entry into working life. The social element of HECS consists of three components: First, this credit is granted at no cost, secondly takes the obligation to refund the tuition fees only if the debtor's income exceeds a specified threshold, and thirdly redemption is income-based rates; these three components are different from the American or British about HECS fee model. An immediate and complete payment of tuition fees before the beginning of each academic year will be rewarded with a discount of 20 %.

Recent Developments

Although these pillars were not touched, the Australian government takes but influence on HECS by the level of tuition fees determines the one indirectly, as also regulates by law, from which the amount of the gross income reaches the repayment obligation. In 2005, the regulations have been updated as follows: Depending on the current gross income of between 4% (from OFF $ 30,000 gross income ) and 8 % (from OFF $ 60,000 gross income ) of earnings in the form of a tax to the Australian Taxation Office ( ATO) discharged; below the income threshold of $ 30,000 OFF is no obligation to repay.

At the time of introduction of HECS in 1989, students paid regardless of the field of study a standard rate of $ 2,400 per year off. After the change of government in 1996, in which the right-wing Liberal Party under Prime Minister John Howard came to power, the fees were increased drastically and the unit charge initially replaced by a three-tier pricing, from 2004 through a four-step plan. Relative to projected future income, tuition fees have been divided by subject: The highest tuition fees incurred in the subjects of law and medicine, the natural sciences are in second place of the fees scale, while having a degree is relatively inexpensive in the social sciences and humanities. The fourth - and cheapest - level consists of courses that are classified by the government as ' National Priorities '. These are currently nursing and education, as there is a shortage of labor prevails, and with artificially low tuition fees the demand for these study programs should be boosted. As a relatively low-cost book science is evident in the most expensive category in the classification of law, not make the actual cost for a place to study the criterion for the level of tuition fees, but alone the projected economic value.

A further modification of the original HECS concept represents the mode of allocation of study places dar. Australian nationals are entitled to so-called Commonwealth supported places. Access to these courses is in principle open to all Australians, however, is - simply - depending on their school grades and their age. Receives an Australian student for his desire course no admission due to poor school grades or because of an insufficient number of places, so it can still apply for admission as a full fee paying student; up to 35 percent of university places may be awarded to domestic full fee paying students. Then the law, for example, when a student instead of OFF $ 8018 as a Commonwealth supported student, the sum of AUS - $ 19,200 as a full fee paying student due to a degree in the humanities OFF $ 15,120 instead of OFF $ 4808.

Rating

Australia has in recent years in the context of the debate in Germany about the introduction of tuition fees will receive an unprecedented good press for its system of trailing tuition fees, which is considered balanced its proponents as fair and socially. HECS makes the study financing regardless of social origin and couples it to the future income: Thus only one who has to pay back the loan, which has drawn a financial advantage from his studies.

But there are also negative developments: the state takes over the collection of tuition fees as an opportunity to retire to an ever increasing extent from the higher education funding. This is the result of a study of Australian university teachers' association ( National Tertiary Education Union, NTEU ). As impressive as the absolute height of the raised tuition fees and the size of its percentage share of the higher education budget is so little benefit the universities of them directly. Nevertheless, the universities more than ever depend on this source of income, as the government grants decrease continuously: attorney in 1992, the grants from the government at the federal level or 66 percent of the university budget, so this share fell in 2001 to only 41 percent; for the year 2005, the grants should be well below 40 percent and continues to decline in the coming years.

But for the government itself HECS could backfire: Currently, granted HECS loans exceed the repayments made to approximately AUS $ 9 billion; until 2007 did go on conservative forecasts a deficit in the amount of AUS $ 15 billion. The reasons for this are to be sought in the fact that it is not possible all the graduates to reach the income threshold of OFF $ 30,000 and they are therefore exempt from the obligation to repay. Also, the large number of Australians who turn their home country after graduation back to work in the U.S. or the UK are exempt from the obligation to repay.

Since the HECS - deficit must ultimately be covered by the public sector, tackle the financial planning of the government into trouble. As a result, the tuition fees are gradually being raised further, while the low repayment rates have led to a steady lowering of the income threshold at which engages the obligation to repay.

Tertiary education fees in Australia

Recent Developments

Rating

See also