Australian University students currently owe well over $10 billion under the HECS loan scheme, with the average student being in debt of around $12,000 to $14,000. Apparently one third of these students will not end up paying back their HECS debt in their lifetime.
I'm currently working at paying off a student loan for my Arts / Law degree of some $36,000. According to the Government, you don't pay interest on the loan, which is partially bullshit because they increase the student loan by CPI (inflation) each year. Yes, the Government does subsidise some of your University fees through this student loan scheme, but the amount is bugger all for many degrees. For example, Law students get less than 20% subsidy, while Medicine students get around 70%.
Apparently there were talks about allowing students to reduce their HECS debt by $10 for every hour of recognised community service work they do. Oh well, I guess picking beer cans off a beach somewhere for 10 bucks an hour beats slaving my arse off working under a sleazy barrister on a similar hourly rate of pay to repay my goddamn student loan. End rant.
