CYU Podcast - StudyAssist
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[00:00:00] Nicole - Dept of Education: [00:00:03] And so you can jump in and out of the Study Assist website at [00:00:06] any point. And because of the way we've kind of got the navigation across [00:00:09] the top, there's some very specific headings about, you know, starting [00:00:12] study or looking at, loan application, what type [00:00:15] of loans are there. I think depending on where you are in your study [00:00:18] journey, there's a great entry point into Study Assist [00:00:21] to get some more information.[00:00:24]

[00:00:24] Rob: G'day and welcome to the Choosing Your Uni podcast. I'm your [00:00:27] host, Rob Mellicki, coming to you today from Garigal Land in [00:00:30] Sydney. And in Australia, we're fortunate to [00:00:33] have one of the strongest higher education systems in the [00:00:36] whole world. According to the Global Rankings [00:00:39] Organisation, QS, Australia's higher education system, our [00:00:42] university system, ranks third [00:00:45] behind only the UK and the USA.

[00:00:47] Rob: But, [00:00:48] some 90 percent of our [00:00:51] universities rank in the top 1, 000 globally. [00:00:54] Meaning Regardless of where you go to uni in [00:00:57] Australia, you're going to get an extremely [00:01:00] good education by world standards. Now, [00:01:03] Australia's system is successful for many reasons, but [00:01:06] one of the key reasons, I believe, is that for more than [00:01:09] 50 years, Australian governments of all [00:01:12] colours have been have supported this critical part of [00:01:15] Australia's education system.

[00:01:17] Rob: Unlike [00:01:18] some other countries in the world, a key tenant, a key [00:01:21] part of that approach has been ensuring that if an [00:01:24] Australian wants to go to university, they can go to university. [00:01:27] And that's what we're talking about on the Choosing Your Uni [00:01:30] podcast today. Different programs available from the [00:01:33] Australian Government to HELP people to pay for the cost of their [00:01:36] studies.

[00:01:36] Rob: And to HELP me break this down, what's [00:01:39] available and how it works, I'm joined by Nicole from the [00:01:42] Federal Department of Education. Nicole, thanks for joining me [00:01:45] on the Choosing Your Uni podcast.

[00:01:46] Nicole - Dept of Education: Hi Rob, great to be here.

[00:01:47] Rob: [00:01:48] Now, Nicole, there are lots of acronyms when it [00:01:51] comes to universities and university support, but [00:01:54] perhaps we can start with the main acronym that students and their [00:01:57] parents are likely to come across when they start looking at [00:02:00] university, and that is [00:02:03] C.S.P. What is a C. S. P.? And [00:02:06] how do you go about getting one of these?

[00:02:07] Nicole - Dept of Education: The long version of C. [00:02:09] S. P. is a Commonwealth Supported Place. So essentially, it's a [00:02:12] government subsidy which is provided to [00:02:15] students, which means that they don't pay the full course fees. [00:02:18] So this is not a loan, and it doesn't have to be paid back.

[00:02:20] Nicole - Dept of Education: The [00:02:21] government is literally paying a portion of the course fees on [00:02:24] your behalf, and then there is a remaining portion which a [00:02:27] student has to pay themselves, and that's called the student [00:02:30] contribution amount.

[00:02:30] Rob: I'm glad you cleared that up right out of the gate, because I think it's [00:02:33] one of those things that people don't understand, is that the government [00:02:36] actually spends billions and billions of dollars every [00:02:39] year, that nobody pays back, well the Australian taxpayer, I suppose, [00:02:42] eventually pays for that.

[00:02:42] Rob: But, That's not actually borne by the [00:02:45] student, and that's what the CSP is.

[00:02:46] Nicole - Dept of Education: Just to give you a bit of an [00:02:48] idea about what that subsidy might look like, and these are based on some real life [00:02:51] examples from the university website, so you can obviously go and do your own [00:02:54] research as well if you're a student.

[00:02:55] Nicole - Dept of Education: But if you wanted to study a law degree, for [00:02:57] example, then, and you receive a Commonwealth Supported Place, then the [00:03:00] cost of that law degree for the first year might be 16, 000. If [00:03:03] you're not in a Commonwealth Supported Place, so you don't have a CSP, you're [00:03:06] a full fee paying student, then it might be 34, 000.

[00:03:08] Nicole - Dept of Education: [00:03:09] And there's some examples on the studyassist.gov.au [00:03:12] website, which also shows the difference in costs between [00:03:15] studying a CSP and studying not in a CSP. [00:03:18]

[00:03:18] Rob: Fantastic. And I'm looking forward to chatting more about Study [00:03:21] Assist a little bit later in the podcast. And that's a great [00:03:24] example. I, I think people really should go out and have a look at that sort of [00:03:27] information because it really starts to highlight to you the [00:03:30] really generous level of support that Australians do get when they [00:03:33] go to university. So I think that's extremely valuable. [00:03:36] Nicole, you mentioned a student contribution. Maybe could we [00:03:39] unpack that a little bit, and then perhaps we can talk a little bit about [00:03:42] the HELP program, another acronym.

[00:03:44] Nicole - Dept of Education: The student [00:03:45] contribution amount is the amount that's left to pay. So the government's paid the [00:03:48] subsidy and then you've got an amount left to pay. You can either pay that up front to [00:03:51] your university and you have to do that before the Census Date. And a [00:03:54] Census Date is a really important sort of legal deadline.

[00:03:56] Nicole - Dept of Education: And we can talk about [00:03:57] that hopefully a little bit later, but you either pay up front to the [00:04:00] university by that date, or you have to apply for a [00:04:03] loan and that's called the higher education loan program. Most of [00:04:06] your listeners will probably know that as a HECS-HELP loan and [00:04:09] we'll discuss that a little bit more.

[00:04:10] Nicole - Dept of Education: But in terms of the student [00:04:12] contributions, the government puts the different subjects into [00:04:15] different bands or different clusters. And there's a table of those. [00:04:18] And so we'll basically say if you're studying in a certain [00:04:21] subject, say you're doing a bachelor of education, then there'll be some of the [00:04:24] units that you study will be in the "education [00:04:27] cluster".

[00:04:27] Nicole - Dept of Education: Which is Funding Cluster 2, I think, for example. But you might [00:04:30] also do some science and some maths and some English. And so [00:04:33] those subjects will be in different "clusters". And that will determine [00:04:36] really what the cost of a course is. But because you're [00:04:39] getting a subsidy from the government, then, and you're enrolled [00:04:42] in a CSP, there's a cap or a maximum that a [00:04:45] university can charge for those units.

[00:04:46] Nicole - Dept of Education: And so that's all listed and it has to be [00:04:48] published on the university's website.

[00:04:49] Rob: It's fascinating, isn't it? [00:04:51] Because one of the questions we regularly get at Choosing Your Uni is [00:04:54] "Well, how much is my degree going to cost?" And it's a [00:04:57] little bit complicated to answer because, of course, if you're doing a [00:05:00] particular degree, like, yeah, the science degree is a great example because you [00:05:03] might take an elective engineering or in [00:05:06] music or something like that, and each of those individual [00:05:09] subjects falls under a different, , grouping.[00:05:12]

[00:05:12] Rob: And therefore the individual cost of that subject will [00:05:15] vary. Actually, one thing I might just ask, which is also something [00:05:18] we hear a lot. If you're doing, for example, an education [00:05:21] degree, that was the one that you kind of pulled out as an example. So let's stick with that. [00:05:24] But if you do that education degree at Macquarie [00:05:27] university or the university of Western Australia.

[00:05:29] Rob: Is [00:05:30] there, I mean, outside of that variability in, in sort of [00:05:33] individual subjects, that degree should essentially cost the same, [00:05:36] is that correct?

[00:05:36] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah, so if you enroll in a CSP and the funding [00:05:39] clusters for those subjects, there's a maximum of what can be charged. A [00:05:42] university could charge less than that for a subject, but [00:05:45] mostly they'd be on a par with each other.

[00:05:47] Nicole - Dept of Education: So yes, [00:05:48] but if you're a full fee paying student and you don't have a CSP, say [00:05:51] you're an international student, then it's about the cost of delivery and, [00:05:54] and different universities will obviously charge different, different prices. Okay.

[00:05:56] Rob: [00:05:57] Yeah, I think that's quite funny that the word HELP has just come into [00:06:00] that, because of course, the Higher Education Loan Program HELP [00:06:03] Program is a big part of what we're about to talk about.

[00:06:05] Rob: Back in my [00:06:06] generation, we used to know this just simply as HECS, the Higher Education [00:06:09] Contribution Scheme, but of course, that was updated actually quite a long time [00:06:12] ago now, and now it's the HELP Program that has a number [00:06:15] of different elements to it. Perhaps you can walk us [00:06:18] through some of those elements, Nicole.

[00:06:19] Nicole - Dept of Education: Sure, Rob. Essentially there are [00:06:21] five types of HELP loans. Most people would be most [00:06:24] familiar with HECS-HELP and the other type of loan [00:06:27] that would probably be the second most. Taken out loan, I can [00:06:30] say that is the FEE-HELP loan. So essentially both of [00:06:33] those loans are around being able to pay [00:06:36] your course fees.

[00:06:36] Nicole - Dept of Education: HECS-HELP is a loan that you would take out if you're [00:06:39] eligible for a CSP and if you are not enrolled in a [00:06:42] CSP. So if you don't go to a public university, for [00:06:45] example, you're doing your undergraduate degree of bachelor degree at a [00:06:48] at a private institution, a private college, then you may not be [00:06:51] entitled to a CSP and then you would take [00:06:54] out a FEE-HELP loan to cover the cost of the course.

[00:06:56] Nicole - Dept of Education: There [00:06:57] are a couple of other loans, which I'll just talk about briefly. One is an [00:07:00] OS-HELP Loan, and so that's if you're doing a degree where [00:07:03] you want to do an exchange overseas, something really exciting like that, but you [00:07:06] think, I can't really afford, the cost of living overseas for a [00:07:09] semester, for example.

[00:07:09] Nicole - Dept of Education: Then you can take out an OS-HELP Loan, where you can get [00:07:12] some money for your sort of travel accommodation expenses. And there's [00:07:15] also an SA-HELP Loan, which is a more common [00:07:18] loan, and that's to cover your student services and amenities [00:07:21] So universities can charge this fee up to about [00:07:24] 350 a year, and that's to provide things like [00:07:27] childcare services, food services, career [00:07:30] counselling, those sorts of things.

[00:07:30] Nicole - Dept of Education: And they're on top of your course fees, but there's a loan if you need [00:07:33] assistance being able to pay that.

[00:07:34] Rob: So that's four, and I [00:07:36] believe there's one more.

[00:07:36] Nicole - Dept of Education: There is. There's the Startup HELP Loan. So it's in its [00:07:39] pilot year, so it's fairly early on, but it's really, and it's a [00:07:42] bit more of a niche loan. So if you're a [00:07:45] postgraduate student or if you're in your last year of uni [00:07:48] or you've recently graduated and you want to do a course that [00:07:51] is called an accelerator program, so this is sort of entrepreneurial [00:07:54] skills, innovation skills for a startup business, there's a [00:07:57] HELP loan to assist you to pay your course fees for that as well.[00:08:00]

[00:08:00] Rob: Fantastic. So what I heard you say, just to jump into [00:08:03] those two main areas, the HECS-HELP and the [00:08:06] FEE-HELP. What I heard you say is essentially we're paying these back, but [00:08:09] if you're taking a HECS-HELP loan, that's [00:08:12] when you're a Commonwealth Supported Student, so the government is [00:08:15] paying part of your studies and you're able to defer the rest, [00:08:18] the amount that you need to pay as a student, you can [00:08:21] defer that and then pay that back later.

[00:08:23] Rob: FEE-HELP is [00:08:24] for students who aren't Commonwealth supported. So they're [00:08:27] not, the government isn't subsidising part of that course. And that's [00:08:30] where you defer the full cost of your fees and eventually you [00:08:33] pay that back later as well, is that correct?

[00:08:34] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah, that's correct. And with the [00:08:36] FEE-HELP loan, just to be conscious that there is a 20 percent loan fee [00:08:39] on that as well.

[00:08:39] Nicole - Dept of Education: So that's something else to think about when you're doing your [00:08:42] research about, you know, where you want to study, whether it's a public university, whether [00:08:45] it's a private institution and the lines that you might be eligible.

[00:08:47] Rob: Okay, [00:08:48] good to know. I'll just put a little caveat in there. For anyone [00:08:51] listening along here, obviously details can change always good [00:08:54] to go and double check things.

[00:08:55] Rob: So the Study Assist website is, the best [00:08:57] place to go and check out, you know, startup HELPers is in a pilot [00:09:00] year. I really liked the look of that program. I'll be that that's a really clever thing [00:09:03] to have, to have launched. So hopefully that continues, but it might not. So [00:09:06] always. Look into the details.

[00:09:07] Rob: studyassist.gov.au is the [00:09:09] best place to go and do that. Maybe let's talk a little bit [00:09:12] about then who's eligible for these Commonwealth Supported [00:09:15] Places and for the HELP programs.

[00:09:16] Nicole - Dept of Education: So look, there is quite a lot [00:09:18] of information around eligibility and there's some sort of general [00:09:21] eligibility and then there's some more specific depending on the HELP [00:09:24] loan.

[00:09:24] Nicole - Dept of Education: So I would encourage again people to go to [00:09:27] studyassist.gov.au and they can have a look at the list. But essentially it [00:09:30] comes down to citizenship and residency. So Australian [00:09:33] citizens are eligible for both a CSP [00:09:36] and a HELP Loan. And then there are some other categories that are eligible [00:09:39] for a CSP. So for example, if you're a New Zealand [00:09:42] citizen, you're a Pacific engagement visa holder, or a permanent [00:09:45] resident, you're entitled to the CSP.

[00:09:46] Nicole - Dept of Education: But not [00:09:48] necessarily entitled to the HELP Loan. So there's sort of [00:09:51] some stricter criteria there. There are other things that you need to, [00:09:54] so obviously you need to be studying with a registered Australian higher [00:09:57] education provider like a university. You need to have [00:10:00] a USI, which is a unique student identifier number that [00:10:03] students will get when they enroll.

[00:10:04] Nicole - Dept of Education: TFN, a tax file [00:10:06] number for HELP Loan. Those sorts of things, but the essential [00:10:09] criteria really are probably down to citizenship and [00:10:12] residency.

[00:10:12] Rob: Now, once again, this might sound a little bit scary to [00:10:15] some people who are getting into this for the first time. As someone who's been [00:10:18] through the system, a lot of people will speak to that.

[00:10:19] Rob: It's actually really easy to [00:10:21] get, to take care of some of this administration. The USI is really, [00:10:24] really easy to get, take care of. A tax file number is, is the [00:10:27] same. So these are just sort of administrative steps you need to go, go through. [00:10:30] But it's, it's not a daunting task. [00:10:33] process, uh, if I could put it that way.

[00:10:35] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah. And I think [00:10:36] one of the things that it's probably useful to say here is the loan's not [00:10:39] means tested. So it doesn't matter whether you're earning money at the [00:10:42] moment, you know, working part time, whether you're, depending on how much your [00:10:45] parents are earning eligibility criteria, it's not about [00:10:48] income at this point.

[00:10:49] Rob: That's a really good point. And maybe a little bit of [00:10:51] history. I'll take a little side door there. You know, the HECS [00:10:54] program, which now the HELP program came about in the [00:10:57] late 1980s. And the Australian government had done [00:11:00] research around the fact that graduates [00:11:03] of, with a degree, make a lot [00:11:06] more money over their lifetime than, than those without a degree.[00:11:09]

[00:11:09] Rob: And I actually looked up the recent statistics around that. [00:11:12] So as at time of recording, it still holds very [00:11:15] true. Somebody with an undergraduate degree in Australia will earn 53 [00:11:18] percent more than someone without a degree. And someone with [00:11:21] a postgraduate degree over the course of their lifetime will earn [00:11:24] 75 percent more on average [00:11:27] than someone without a degree.

[00:11:28] Rob: So back in the [00:11:30] eighties, the government was looking at You know, [00:11:33] well, if this individual is getting this huge benefit across their [00:11:36] lifetime from higher education, what can we do [00:11:39] to make sure that they're making a contribution to the [00:11:42] cost of their education? And there's a chap called Bruce Chapman who [00:11:45] did some of the original design on this, and that was in the 80s, and [00:11:48] that's when this whole program kicked off.

[00:11:49] Rob: So there is some really [00:11:51] good policy rationale behind [00:11:54] why the Australian system is structured this way. that way [00:11:57] in order for it to be as fair and equitable as [00:12:00] possible. Obviously like really good data around this has been [00:12:03] robustly tested over a long period of time and holds true. Those are, those [00:12:06] are pretty impressive numbers.

[00:12:07] Rob: What you said about equity is, is so [00:12:09] important. I think in the original design of this program, [00:12:12] the question, Governments have been trying to answer for a long [00:12:15] time is how do we make this available to the [00:12:18] widest range of students possible, regardless of your [00:12:21] background. So even if you're from remote Australia and a low [00:12:24] SES background, we still want those people to [00:12:27] have access to higher education because it does have lifelong [00:12:30] benefits.

[00:12:30] Rob: And so that's, that's what a key part of the program design over [00:12:33] all of this time, which I believe still, still holds very true as an [00:12:36] observer. Nicole, can we get into some of the, the administrative steps? [00:12:39] So what happens for somebody, how does somebody apply [00:12:42] for the HELP program? What's that look like?

[00:12:44] Nicole - Dept of Education: As a student, when you [00:12:45] apply for a university course, so you might apply directly through a [00:12:48] university, or you might apply through a tertiary admission center. So some [00:12:51] of your listeners will be familiar with UAC. They might be looking at UAC guides or [00:12:54] VTAC, depending on, you know, QTAC, depending on what [00:12:57] state you're in.

[00:12:57] Nicole - Dept of Education: You will then be made an offer from a [00:13:00] university, hopefully, if you, you know, meet their admission [00:13:03] criteria. And it's really careful at that point when you're made an offer. One of the [00:13:06] best things to do is check that the offer is for a Commonwealth [00:13:09] Supported Place, the CSP, so that you benefit from that government [00:13:12] subsidy.

[00:13:12] Nicole - Dept of Education: And then once you accept the offer with your [00:13:15] university, They will provide you with a form. It's called a Commonwealth [00:13:18] Assistance Form. It's an online electronic form. And that's what you [00:13:21] complete to confirm that you want to accept the CSP. And it's [00:13:24] the same form if you're taking out a HECS-HELP Loan.

[00:13:26] Rob: You [00:13:27] mentioned just before, , Census Dates.

[00:13:29] Rob: To me, like, [00:13:30] this might be a good Moment to mention what that [00:13:33] is and why it's important.

[00:13:34] Nicole - Dept of Education: So it's a really important deadline [00:13:36] and we receive hundreds of student [00:13:39] inquiries, each week. And a lot of them, especially around census time, [00:13:42] are "I've missed the Census Date or what is the Census Date?" So [00:13:45] Census Date is really important for two reasons.

[00:13:47] Nicole - Dept of Education: One, [00:13:48] if the very last date, so it's a legal deadline for you to get your [00:13:51] form in, to get a CSP or a HELP Loan. And it's also [00:13:54] the last day that you can withdraw from a course without [00:13:57] incurring The cost of that course, so whether that's through a HELP [00:14:00] debt or whether that's to pay the fees up front. So, if you've started [00:14:03] in a course and you decide, oh, actually, I don't think this is for me, [00:14:06] you need to withdraw before the Census Date and you need to do that formally [00:14:09] through your university's process.

[00:14:10] Nicole - Dept of Education: They're the two sort of [00:14:12] key things about a Census Date. Each university will [00:14:15] have a different Census Date. So even though in [00:14:18] legislation, it says that there needs to be a Census Date, and it [00:14:21] also says it has to be no earlier than 20 percent [00:14:24] through So say you're doing a semester [00:14:27] that's 20 weeks long, the Census Date will be at the end of [00:14:30] that first four weeks.

[00:14:30] Nicole - Dept of Education: So you've got four weeks to make sure your forms are in [00:14:33] or four weeks to withdraw if you don't want to continue. [00:14:36] And so even though the Census Dates are different, your university is [00:14:39] legally required to publish those dates. So there'll be sort of a [00:14:42] page on the website of the university that says key dates or [00:14:45] key, you know, semester dates or term dates.

[00:14:47] Nicole - Dept of Education: Make sure [00:14:48] that's one of the first things that you look at.

[00:14:49] Rob: I'm going to make a little comment here [00:14:51] for the parents who might be listening along here. Obviously we want [00:14:54] our kids to be as independent as they can be through this process. Higher [00:14:57] education is that kind of process of, I heard this great [00:15:00] expression once.

[00:15:00] Rob: It's like a game of tug of war that you have to [00:15:03] lose slowly as a parent. You say [00:15:06] you're letting the rope out and letting your child be more and more [00:15:09] independent. Census Date is probably one of those [00:15:12] things you want to keep an eye on, at least for the first year or two of your [00:15:15] child going to university, because it is a [00:15:18] really, really important deadline.

[00:15:19] Rob: And that's definitely one [00:15:21] that I would have in my calendar with like six different [00:15:24] alerts set up, you know, in the weeks leading up to it, [00:15:27] just checking in with my child to make sure that they've [00:15:30] taken care of what they need to do. Because one of the great things about uni is you [00:15:33] can. change courses. Of course, depending on your [00:15:36] degree and your personal circumstances, you can move in and out of [00:15:39] things in that period before Census Date.

[00:15:41] Rob: [00:15:42] Census Date is like the boom gate coming down and there are no [00:15:45] more changes. So put it in your calendar, whatever you [00:15:48] do. How much higher education loan program [00:15:51] can, can someone receive?

[00:15:52] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah, sure. So look, there is a HELP [00:15:54] Loan limit. And so that's the maximum amount that you can borrow under the [00:15:57] HELP program in your lifetime.

[00:15:59] Rob: I think that's in your [00:16:00] lifetime. Is that correct?

[00:16:00] Nicole - Dept of Education: In your lifetime, yes, but it's a renewable limit. So [00:16:03] as you make repayments later down the track when you're earning money, [00:16:06] then obviously you can borrow that amount again. So it's about [00:16:09] 121, 000 for most students and then there's a [00:16:12] higher amount of about 174, 000.

[00:16:14] Nicole - Dept of Education: for [00:16:15] students studying dentistry, , medicine or veterinary [00:16:18] science. And so they're the amounts this year, they get indexed annually. [00:16:21] So there's a website that you can go to, it's myHELPbalance. gov. au [00:16:24] and that will show you how much you have borrowed [00:16:27] towards your HELP Loan. It'll list the units that you're studying with [00:16:30] your university.

[00:16:30] Nicole - Dept of Education: So you can keep a track of that because once you get keep a track of that because once you get to the [00:16:33] HELP Loan limit, then you won't be able to borrow any more through your HELP [00:16:36] Loan. You'll either have to pay upfront or Or you could take a break from study, [00:16:39] for example, until you paid off some of that HELP debt, [00:16:42] which would then renew your balance.

[00:16:42] Nicole - Dept of Education: There's a really good video that talks about the [00:16:45] difference between your HELP balance and your HELP debt, and [00:16:48] that's on studyassist. gov. au, and that sort of explains a little [00:16:51] bit more about HELP Loan limits, um, and what your available [00:16:54] balance is. So, you know, how much you left you've got to borrow.

[00:16:56] Rob: [00:16:57] So check out that resource.

[00:16:58] Rob: That sounds great. Out of [00:17:00] curiosity, is it possible to swap or change between [00:17:03] these different Higher education loan program. So if you [00:17:06] start off for example on FEE-HELP, can you eventually then [00:17:09] move on to a Commonwealth Supported Place?

[00:17:10] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah, you certainly [00:17:12] can. So if you started an institution that doesn't [00:17:15] offer CSP, so it's not a public university for example, [00:17:18] and you do a year of it and then you think actually I want to transfer.

[00:17:20] Nicole - Dept of Education: So, you can't transfer [00:17:21] across into a CSP, you can. So, you just need to make sure that each [00:17:24] time you're applying for the HELP Loan, you need to [00:17:27] complete a separate form and only the university can provide you [00:17:30] with that e-CAF form that we spoke about earlier. But also make sure that you're, [00:17:33] you're withdrawing from, if you're changing courses, you're [00:17:36] changing universities or providers, that you're withdrawing [00:17:39] from that course and applying again in a new course.

[00:17:41] Nicole - Dept of Education: [00:17:42] Particularly, again, if you can, before the Census Date so that you're not, you're not [00:17:45] You know, being charged for units that you're no longer [00:17:48] completing. But yes, and you might have more than one HELP loan [00:17:51] at any given time. So, if you're in a CSP and you've got a [00:17:54] HECS-HELP loan and you decide to go overseas to do an [00:17:57] exchange, you may then apply for an OS HELP loan.

[00:17:59] Nicole - Dept of Education: You may have [00:18:00] an SA HELP loan to pay for that student services and amenities [00:18:03] fee at the same time as you've got another HELP.

[00:18:05] Rob: So there are a few [00:18:06] options there. So how's it actually rep repaid? How's the HELP [00:18:09] Loan repaid?

[00:18:09] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah, so it's repaid through the taxation system, so [00:18:12] through the ATO, once you are earning a certain amount.

[00:18:14] Nicole - Dept of Education: So [00:18:15] for this year it's about [00:18:18] $54,000 and it's worked out at tax time. [00:18:21] So when you submit your tax return for that year or your [00:18:24] tax assessment, they'll determine whether or not you've earned over that [00:18:27] 54,000 for example and a [00:18:30] compulsory repayment has to be made. And that's sort of a sliding scale. [00:18:33] There's a table on the ATO website, but it's anywhere between about [00:18:36] 1 percent to 10 percent depending on how much you're earning.

[00:18:38] Nicole - Dept of Education: [00:18:39] One of the things that's probably important for people to know is that when they [00:18:42] graduate from university and they get their first job, to let their [00:18:45] employer know that they do have a HELP debt, because then that [00:18:48] money, it's called withholdings, pay as you go withholdings, and they [00:18:51] can be held out of your payslip, essentially, [00:18:54] and put aside to be able to, you know, To make that compulsory repayment [00:18:57] when, at tax time.

[00:18:57] Rob: That's critically, critically important to [00:19:00] remember, is when you're filling out that paperwork for your employer. [00:19:03] To make sure you tick the little box that says you have a, have a HELP [00:19:06] loan so that that money is withheld from your pay. [00:19:09] Otherwise, when you put in your tax return, you may end up with a [00:19:12] tax bill that you need to pay because it hasn't been [00:19:15] withheld from your pay as you go along.

[00:19:16] Rob: So definitely have a [00:19:18] Close look at that when you're getting employment. [00:19:21] And the thing I really like about this system, I mean, I've been in higher education [00:19:24] for 25 years and I've seen systems from all over the world, [00:19:27] but it really is a fair system in the sense that, you [00:19:30] know, if you're straight out of uni, your first job isn't paying [00:19:33] particularly well, and you don't reach that threshold amount, [00:19:36] well, you're not having to pay anything [00:19:39] back against your.

[00:19:41] Rob: It's only once [00:19:42] you start to earn those high incomes that you start to [00:19:45] then have to make those repayments. And if you start to [00:19:48] get a really great salary and make more money, then that [00:19:51] amount might increase a little bit as well. But it's all proportionate. [00:19:54] And so at no point are you suddenly, you know, find [00:19:57] yourself in a situation where maybe you'll lose your job. And suddenly you're going to get [00:20:00] whacked on the head with a massive bill. Well, if you're not earning that [00:20:03] money, then you're not making the repayments. So it's been [00:20:06] designed in such a way, I feel that it's really fair. Certainly [00:20:09] there are some education systems around the world where [00:20:12] it's definitely not in that model.

[00:20:13] Rob: It's not that fair. So I [00:20:15] think we've got the balance right. Pretty, pretty right here in [00:20:18] Australia. Okay, Nicole, we've been talking about thresholds for repayments, and [00:20:21] you've mentioned a few times this word indexation. Could you explain what [00:20:24] indexation is?

[00:20:24] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah, sure. So indexation is when your HELP debt [00:20:27] is adjusted on the 1st of June each year to reflect the [00:20:30] change in cost of living. So this is really to ensure that [00:20:33] education maintains its value. Value over time, like other goods and services. [00:20:36] So the idea that, you know, the value of a dollar today is not the [00:20:39] same as five years ago, or at some point in the future.

[00:20:41] Nicole - Dept of Education: So [00:20:42] indexation on debt doesn't impact when and how much a person [00:20:45] repays each year, as this is based on how much a person earns and the [00:20:48] compulsory repayment threshold, which we've spoken about. But indexation [00:20:51] does mean that the amount you repay in total is likely to be [00:20:54] more than the original amount that you borrowed.

[00:20:56] Nicole - Dept of Education: So [00:20:57] indexation is applied by the ATO, any HELP [00:21:00] debts that are older than 11 months. As of at the [00:21:03] moment, indexation is calculated against the [00:21:06] CPI, Consumer Price Index. But the government, um, has [00:21:09] a piece of legislation before parliament at the [00:21:12] moment to change that to be capped at either the lower of [00:21:15] the CPI or the Wage Price Index.

[00:21:17] Nicole - Dept of Education: And really [00:21:18] that's so that the, Indexation will never grow [00:21:21] faster than wages. And there's more information on the Study Assist [00:21:24] website about that. But what it means is that for students that have a [00:21:27] current HELP, debt that has been indexed, they will see a [00:21:30] reduction for the last two years. So the indexation rate for [00:21:33] 2023 was 7.1%, and that's proposed to [00:21:36] come down to 3.2 and for 20 24, 4 [00:21:39] 0.7%, and that will come down to 4% and the ATO [00:21:42] will apply credit.

[00:21:43] Nicole - Dept of Education: to people's HELP debt [00:21:45] accounts to reflect that lowering of indexation when the [00:21:48] legislation passes.

[00:21:49] Rob: Okay, excellent. So obviously, [00:21:51] depending on what time, when you're listening to this podcast, [00:21:54] information varies. Always jump on the Study Assist website just to make sure [00:21:57] that you're up to date with the current, current information [00:22:00] about how indexation is working.

[00:22:01] Rob: That's always going to be up there and [00:22:03] available. Maybe you can myth bust for me for a [00:22:06] moment, Nicole. One of the things I also commonly hear is, [00:22:09] Like, Oh, I'm getting charged interest, like the cost is [00:22:12] going up on my degree, but, but that's very much [00:22:15] a myth, isn't it?

[00:22:15] Nicole - Dept of Education: Yeah. So there is no real interest in the way that [00:22:18] people might think about interest on their credit card or interest for [00:22:21] home loans, for example, um, it is purely [00:22:24] indexation.

[00:22:24] Nicole - Dept of Education: And so the percentage does change each [00:22:27] year, um, and it's only applied once and it doesn't affect the [00:22:30] repayment rate. So unlike somebody with a home loan who, [00:22:33] you know, might have to make, you a higher repayment in the second [00:22:36] month if their interest rate goes up. This is an annual [00:22:39] process.

[00:22:39] Rob: We've talked a lot.

[00:22:40] Rob: This is a bit of a technical area, isn't it? There's [00:22:42] so many things to know, but fortunately the Study Assist [00:22:45] website is a great resource, isn't it? Could you maybe tell me a little [00:22:48] bit about Study Assist, Nicole, and the sort of things [00:22:51] people can So questions that people can answer off that [00:22:54] website.

[00:22:54] Nicole - Dept of Education: Look, we're really excited about at the Department of Education.

[00:22:56] Nicole - Dept of Education: [00:22:57] It's a new look Study Assist website. So we've had [00:23:00] studyassist. gov. au for quite a while, but we've just recently done a redesign. And [00:23:03] as part of that, we spoke to lots of students and these are current [00:23:06] students, students looking to go to uni. And so we've really tried to [00:23:09] make the website something that will be really helpful for them.[00:23:12]

[00:23:12] Nicole - Dept of Education: So it's got all the information that you'd need from [00:23:15] understanding the basics of starting studying through to applying [00:23:18] for a HELP Loan and then how to manage your HELP Loan [00:23:21] repayment. So we've got on there an eligibility tool, [00:23:24] which is really useful. So one of the things when we talked about [00:23:27] eligibility before.

[00:23:27] Nicole - Dept of Education: for even though the criteria is in [00:23:30] legislation, it's up to each university to assess whether you're [00:23:33] eligible. But one of the things you can do is to go onto [00:23:36] the Study Assist website and put in some key information around [00:23:39] your circumstances, and it will spit out some results to [00:23:42] let you know whether or not you're likely to be eligible.

[00:23:44] Nicole - Dept of Education: So that's a really [00:23:45] useful tool. We've got lots of kind of quick links and [00:23:48] popular topics. We've got some related topics at the bottom, so if you're on a [00:23:51] page and you've just read about indexation, And then you think, well, what [00:23:54] else do I need to know about these? We kind of HELP signpost [00:23:57] or give you a bit of a path for other bits of [00:24:00] information that are useful.

[00:24:00] Nicole - Dept of Education: We've got FAQs on there. We've got [00:24:03] these little things called tool tips. So as we were speaking [00:24:06] about at the beginning, Rob, lots of the terminology in this space, there's lots [00:24:09] of acronyms, you know, CSP, HELP. So what we've done with these [00:24:12] tool tips is if you hover over. The word it'll pop up [00:24:15] a little explanation for you, which will just allow you to [00:24:18] understand what you're reading and then continue on your kind of journey.

[00:24:20] Nicole - Dept of Education: We've [00:24:21] made some really great animated videos, so they're only sort of [00:24:24] 60 seconds to two minutes and they just go through some of the [00:24:27] topics particularly that we've spoken about today. So I'd really encourage [00:24:30] listeners to go and have a look at those videos and hopefully it will HELP [00:24:33] them with their queries.

[00:24:34] Nicole - Dept of Education: And we've also got a contact us form. [00:24:36] So if all else fails and you've read all the material on there, you've [00:24:39] watched the videos and you still have some questions or you think this doesn't [00:24:42] really, you know, these aren't really my situation, I [00:24:45] need some sort of clarification. You can jump on there and go to [00:24:48] the Contact Us form and then somebody from the Department of Education will [00:24:51] have a look at your enquiry and then come back to you.

[00:24:53] Rob: Yeah, I guess the other thing, [00:24:54] it's a good thing to mention, the other thing in terms of supporters. You know, think [00:24:57] about the other support services that might be out there for you. If you're [00:25:00] currently in high school, your careers advisor will [00:25:03] have been through this 8 bazillion times and can certainly [00:25:06] provide you good guidance around that.

[00:25:07] Rob: And the universities [00:25:09] themselves are also a good source of information. They have [00:25:12] systems and processes set up to deal with these kinds of inquiries. They [00:25:15] obviously handle. part of the entire process. So they're [00:25:18] here also to, to support you. When do you [00:25:21] think is the right time to go and have a look at the [00:25:24] Study Assist website?

[00:25:24] Rob: Like let's say you're going to be starting your studies in [00:25:27] February or March. Next year, when, when's maybe the best time [00:25:30] to jump on and start to explore this sort of topic?

[00:25:32] Nicole - Dept of Education: Look, I think [00:25:33] the starting study, the basics, is something that we would really [00:25:36] encourage you to have a look at if you haven't started uni [00:25:39] yet.

[00:25:39] Nicole - Dept of Education: If you're, you know, in year 12 and you're just trying to get a bit of an [00:25:42] understanding of it. We understand that your focus is [00:25:45] probably on finishing your exams, on, you know, [00:25:48] applying for the courses that interest you and, and, you know, and [00:25:51] seeing if you get an offer. And so you can jump in and out of the [00:25:54] StudyAssist website at any point.

[00:25:55] Nicole - Dept of Education: And because of the way we've kind of got the [00:25:57] navigation across the top, there's some very specific headings about, you [00:26:00] know, starting study or looking at, you know, loan [00:26:03] application, what type of loans are there. I think depending on where [00:26:06] you are in your study journey, there's a great entry point into [00:26:09] StudyAssist to get some more.

[00:26:10] Rob: The sites will be really nice, full [00:26:12] credit. It's, uh, it's been a really good redesign. It's very intuitive. [00:26:15] Lots of different ways to access information, whether [00:26:18] it's written pieces here or the videos and things like that. There is [00:26:21] an easy way for you to consume the information. So get on there [00:26:24] and get the info that you need.

[00:26:25] Rob: Nicole, it's been great having [00:26:27] you on the podcast. One thing I might just quickly reference for [00:26:30] people listening along, what we haven't talked about today, and that's because it [00:26:33] sort of sits with another part of government, another part of government, whole part of your [00:26:36] potential study experience is around things like youth [00:26:39] allowance, what we used to call, Austudy actually still exists, but [00:26:42] Austudy, scholarships from Australian institutions.

[00:26:44] Rob: So these other [00:26:45] sorts of mechanisms, which relate to the money, if you [00:26:48] like finance of higher education, we might try [00:26:51] and take those on in a different podcast episode, but [00:26:54] just to let you know that we deliberately haven't gone there today because they [00:26:57] actually sit in a whole different bucket. But Hey, if you are [00:27:00] listening along and you've got questions, You, feel free to send them [00:27:03] through to us, podcast@choosingyouruni.com [00:27:06] podcast at choosingyouruni. com, always up to [00:27:09] hear the sort of questions that you have and you'd like answered. [00:27:12] Nicole, it's been, it's been wonderful connecting with you and, [00:27:15] and thanks for your generous time to, to help break this [00:27:18] down for us. It's been really helpful.

[00:27:20] Nicole - Dept of Education: Oh, thanks Rob. I'm [00:27:21] really grateful to be here and if anyone's got any questions, [00:27:24] have a look at the Study Assist website and, um, get in touch with the department to do [00:27:27] that.

[00:27:27] Rob: Wonderful. At Choosing Your [00:27:30] Uni, our mission is to make finding your ideal [00:27:33] institution and your degree fun, easy and stress [00:27:36] free. So if you're looking to save some time, to discover [00:27:39] more and to get personalised advice for every step of [00:27:42] your journey, check out choosingyouruni. [00:27:45] com. Our theme music is composed by Parsha [00:27:48] Shoghi and his band Flo, and this episode has been researched [00:27:51] and constructed on Garigal land in Sydney.[00:27:54]

[00:27:54] Rob: Until next time, have yourself an awesome [00:27:57] [00:28:00] [00:28:03] day.