I love the free market. It means my morning cup of coffee costs roughly the same at almost all the coffee shops near campus. The free market is however ruthlessly efficient, even if it is largely responsible…
Our treasurer Joe Hockey is looking to cut the budget and where possible create a user-pays approach to spending. Universities and their graduates are an obvious target. In Australia we have the quite…
A Grattan Institute report I co-authored highlights student debt costs, with the finding that the government could save $800 million a year by retrieving unpaid debts from deceased estates and students…
The cost of the national student loan debt held by the federal government has gathered pace to pop the A$30 billion mark, perpetuating rumours that a debt sale could be on the cards. Should that happen…
After some speculation, this week education minister Christopher Pyne has said the Coalition has no plans to increase university fees. His comments come after much debate over selling the HELP – formerly…
According to the budget papers, Australian students and former students could owe the government more than $40 billion in unpaid Higher Education Loan Program debt by 2017. Unsurprisingly, HELP, formerly…
Education Minister Christopher Pyne has confirmed the government is considering securitising Australia’s HECS debt, and has referred the issue to the Commission of Audit. This has immediately attracted…
The architect of Australia’s student loan system has poured cold water on a report highlighting record levels of student debt, saying he would not be surprised if a fifth of all student debt was never…
Today’s proposal by the Grattan Institute for higher education students to pay more will be viewed by many as unfair and unreasonable, says Australian National University Professor Bruce Chapman. “No one…
Australian university graduates who move overseas to work for long periods have deprived the country of about $450 million in unpaid HECS debts since the payment scheme was introduced in 1989, according…