Congrats! You’re a fresh university student who likely chose a course on a coin flip, with regrets yet to come. Before you spend years transferring universities because it’s “practically free”, have a look at this reddit post, or this one.
What is HECS?
The HECS-HELP loan is an initiative that pays for your studies. Then, when you start earning over 50,000 (exact figure varying), an amount will be deducted to pay back your loan. No free university :(
Many people will tell you that HECS is “interest-free”, and yes, it is true. But, every year, you will accrue an indexation fee to “account for the cost of living”, in other words, inflation. And unfortunately, if you’ve seen the price of eggs, we’re living in inflation-heavy times.
In short, if you have around 120k in debt from, say, a law + arts double degree at Monash, with 3.9% indexation, you’ll be paying off around $4680 on top of your principal (the amount you borrowed). It’s worth noting that many humanities units now cost around $1800 per unit, so each year, you will accrue around $14,440 in debt alone. If you think this is unfair, go take it up with the clowns who thought this was a good idea.
So, the moral of the story? University is no longer free, and it can bite you in the ass.
What’s CSP?
A commonwealth-supported position, or CSP for short, is a spot at a university where you pay less per unit, as the government covers the rest. Before 2021, many teams cost around $1000 each, but now, there’s an emphasis on STEM/teaching, which means they’ve become cheaper. Below are the costs of units from 2022 (which have gone up due to inflation).
| Contribution Band | Maximum Contribution Amount (per EFTSL) | Approximate Cost per Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Band 4: Law, accounting, administration, economics, commerce, communications, society and culture | $14,630 | $1,828.75 |
| Band 3: Dentistry, medicine, veterinary science | $11,401 | $1,425.13 |
| Band 2: Computing, other health, allied health, visual and performing arts, built environment, engineering, science, environmental studies, surveying, professional pathway psychology, professional pathway social work, pathology | $8,021 | $1,002.63 |
| Band 1: Agriculture, English, mathematics, statistics, education, clinical psychology, foreign languages, nursing | $3,985 | $498.13 |
In case you think mathematics is the least employable major, traders at Jane Street start with a total compensation upwards of 600K.
It’s worth noting that at an undergraduate level if you’re a domestic student, you are nearly always in a CSP-supported spot. However, CSP opportunities are limited at the postgraduate level. Not all institutions offer CSP by default for postgraduate courses, meaning you may have to pay the full domestic fee. This is common for medicine and dentistry students who may have to pay the total cost for their course. It’s worth noting you can defer full-fee course payments to HECS, though you’ll hit the HECS borrowing limit.
Lifetime limit on study
From 2022 onwards, you are allowed a lifetime of 7 full-time university years. Any more, and you will pay the full domestic fee. In addition, there is a completion rate requirement, which means that if you don't pass at least 50 per cent of the units you have attempted, you will have to pay the total fee rate until you get that completion rate back up.
Moral of the story
If you can afford to, take university seriously. If you don’t believe you can take 4 units a semester (eww, trimesters), then under load, and either compensate by doing summer units or extending your degree. You could switch to doing university part-time if required, which will only count for half a full-time year (in short, it’s more complicated than that). Some resources are attached below on this topic:
- CSP and HECS-HELP information
- StudyAssist
- Monash CSP calculator (the fees are broadly the same across unis)
- Monash domestic full fee calculator
Addendum - Full Fee Costs Across Universities
For the more curious, if you’re a full fee paying student, domestic, or international, university tuition fees will vary across the university and degree you’re enrolled in.