This Month
House deposit or HECS debt: what’s best for the kids?
Soaring student loan debts can reduce first home buyer lending capacity by up to $140,000, according to analysis by RateCity.
- Duncan Hughes and Lucy Dean
Relief in sight as anger over student debt escalates
Rising student debt is crippling a generation of recent graduates, but the Prime Minister has indicated help is on the way.
- Julie Hare
March
Teals back cutting HECS indexation
Independent MPs are pushing for reform of the student loans system ahead of the May budget.
- Julie Hare
February
‘Wealth tax’ for top unis in $10b funding shake-up
A major review of higher education has recommended a return to demand-driven funding to get more poor students into university; a $10 billion infrastructure fund; an independent tertiary education commission; and bonuses paid based on graduation.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
January
Eight smart ways to reset your finances and boost your wealth
This is an ideal time to review personal and family finances, set new goals and take the first steps to refresh your strategy.
- Duncan Hughes
December 2023
- Opinion
- Penny Wise
Are we spoiling the kids by paying off their HELP debt?
Even in very wealthy households, value-setting can produce grateful and hard-working children.
- Updated
- Debra Cleveland
November 2023
The income boost from a uni degree is slumping
The boost to salary from having a tertiary qualification is falling, with the greatest drop for those earning the highest-level qualifications.
- Julie Hare
- Exclusive
- University
The secret plan to control what uni students can study
A major review is considering an external body to oversee all aspects of universities, potentially stripping them of their autonomy and independence.
- Julie Hare
Have young Australians lost faith in the value of uni?
The number of local students studying for an undergraduate degree has fallen, as rising student debt and the jobs boom turn young people off.
- Julie Hare
September 2023
Arts, business, law students hit hardest as uni fees rise
Some university degrees have gone up by 50 per cent in just five years, while others are 50 per cent cheaper.
- Julie Hare
August 2023
Jason Clare’s big university targets ‘totally unrealistic’
The idea that 55 per cent of young people will have a degree by 2035 is not just unrealistic, but fails to ask students what they want.
- Julie Hare
Records glitch will hit thousands with extra HECs debt
Students could owe more than $5000 after an accounting error meant loan records from 104 tertiary education institutions were not accurately reported to the ATO.
- Lucy Dean
July 2023
Government to unis: get governing bodies in order
Education Minister Jason Clare’s much anticipated higher education review has some harsh words about poor policy and even poorer governance.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Productivity is policy for the young
It is younger generations who suffer as complacent Baby Boomers refuse to see the point of growth-driving productivity reforms.
- Tim Wilson and Jason Falinski
- Opinion
- University
Even Karl Marx didn’t fall for the ‘free’ university fallacy
Zero-fee education is a great deal for students, but not for the Australian community as a whole.
- Richard Holden
June 2023
HECS debt shaping graduates’ love lives
While few Australians regret taking on higher education, 50 per cent of those who borrowed to fund it say it has affected their life choices.
- Lucy Dean
Working-class university boss lobbies for free degrees
Not charging fees for the first year of higher education would cost about $4.3 billion a year, but Duncan Maskell argues income tax revenue would jump.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- Opinion
This is how HECS debt can balloon
In a high inflation world, if you have the capacity and the desire to help a relative repay student debt early, it will likely help grow overall family wealth.
- Tim Mackay
Government under pressure to fix ‘egregious’ HECS indexation rule
It comes as three million graduates with student debts brace for a 7.1 per cent indexation rate which came into force on Thursday.
- Hannah Wootton and Julie Hare
May 2023
Crossbench demands urgent action to stop HECS indexation
HECS repayments will jump by an average of $1760 a year when indexation of 7.1 per cent comes into effect on Thursday.
- Tom McIlroy