Student debt appears poised to be a major issue in the lead-up to next year’s federal election after Education Minister Jason Clare suggested the government is preparing more changes to the HECS-HELP system.
In a speech at the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) conference today, Clare said he was planning to unveil “more detail” about university funding reform by the end of the year.
“There is more to do. That includes changing the way we fund universities,” Clare said.
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“Part of that is uncapping the number of places at university for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who get the marks for the course they want to do.
“Part of that is a new needs-based funding system, so these same students get the extra academic and wraparound support that they need to succeed when they get there.
“And part of that is a new Australian Tertiary Education Commission… and I hope to provide you with more detail on all of that before the end of the year.”
The education minister said the changes are needed because university students are paying more for their degrees than when HECS was introduced.
“When HECS was first created students paid an average of about 24 per cent of the cost of degree,” Clare said.
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“This increased to about 36 per cent in the late 1990s.
“And now, because of the changes the previous government made, it’s about 45 per cent.”
The government reduced the indexation rate on outstanding HECS-HELP in this year’s federal budget before announcing this month it would reduce all student debt by 20 per cent should it win the next election.
Combined, that represents about $20 billion in savings for the just under three million Australians who have student debt.
The Coalition opposed the latter measure, with Nationals leader David Littleproud labelling it a “profoundly unfair policy”.
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