University students and graduates are facing increasing pressure as they prepare to be hit another 4.74 per cent indexation hit to their HECS debts.
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Tyneesha Williams will complete her final year at the University of Wollongong in November and said until recently, her HECS debt wasn't something she ever paid much attention.
The journalism, communications and media student said increased media coverage of inflation, cost of living and indexation made hr curious. She checked her HECS-HELP debt for the first time.
"My attitude up until recently was 'I'm never going to make enough money to pay it off anyway' so it never really bothered me," she said.
"But that's actually not the case at all. The threshold isn't that high."
The threshold for loan repayments for the 2023-2024 financial year will be $51,550 and will rise to $54,434 in the 2024-2025 income year.
Ms Williams said going to university was a logical choice after completing high school, but her decision was fueled by uncertainty and a lack of options.
"I went to university because I wasn't quite ready for the next stage of my life after high school," she said. "I honestly just didn't want to go straight into working full-time."
Like many of her peers in high school, the idea of paying thousands of dollars in tertiary fees prompted Ms Williams to defer payment for her course.
Although it was her choice to apply for a HECS-HELP loan, Ms Williams didn't really understand what it meant or the impact it could have on her future.
"We're not set up to understand how university works, let alone who's paying for it," Ms Williams said.
"I don't know, I just gave them my tax file number."
Current and future students can find fee and financial assistance information on UOW's website or visit Student Central on campus for extra assistance.
Perspective from a graduate
Hamish Naughton-Noel finished his Social Science degree at UOW a year ago and says if he had known about the rising HECS costs he would have focused more on higher-paying fields.
"I would go in with a more trying to earn a higher wage mentality than studying what I was interested in," Mr Naughton-Noel said.
"When I started uni I was studying part-time and working and supporting myself and I always assumed that HECS was the best kind of debt you could have.
"It wasn't going to kind of compound and spiral."
Since leaving university Mr Naughton-Noel has started his own business and earns above the median wage for university graduates.
Despite making payments to his HECS debt, it continued to grow.
Ela Akyol, from the Wollongong Undergraduate Student Union, says students are increasingly on edge about indexation.
"I think it's on every student's mind, especially with the increased cost of degrees," Ms Akyol said.
"It's something that I think is making students feel very, very anxious and feel very worried because their HECS is essentially increasing more than their wages are."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted change may be coming to the HECS indexation system.
Ms Akyol says that change is much-needed.
"I think the current system is just not fair," she said. "At the moment it just means that students are getting penalised for studying at a university."
Mr Naughton-Noel isn't confident the government will solve the problem.
"I'm not one to hope, especially when it comes to the government," he said.
"It's going to be a pressure, and it's going to really hold back my earnings until I can sort something out."
- with Olivia Tollardo
Joel Ehsman
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, experiencing life near the beach.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, experiencing life near the beach.
