Master of Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
Most recent indexation brings it to a lovely total of $93,746. I try not to think about it.
What's your HECS debt and what's your degree?
scepticpsych on 04/09/2017 - 09:51
Comments
That's a lot to pay for learning how to swim.
Thats only for Fee-Help, Hecs help is effectively unlimited.
😲ouch that is just scary :(
Is that actual HECS debt or did you pay full fee?
Debt.
Degree: Comp Science (One semester only) - deferral application went in on the HECs cut-off date during the second semester.
Debt: Approx $5-6k for the first semester.
Went straight into FT work on a salary of $20K so it took about 4-5 years to pay off the HECS because I was under the threshold for a number of years.
Looking back, I'm glad I didn't go through with the rest of the degree.
Are you working in IT doing software development or did you go for a different field in the end?
No actually - I didn't have any plans at the start and no idea what I wanted to do (I was a bit of a mess at the time!) - I just took any office job I could get from the local paper and figured that I just had to do the best I can.
Started off with financial services administration for a few years, then complaints management, client management, business analysis, systems analysis and now project management (not IT).
I've been around the block! haha
Edit: I should also mention that I did a Diploma and have other industry qualifications that costed thousands, but they were all paid for by the companies I was working for at the time. I honestly don't think they're even worth the paper they're written on.
Health care and I have no idea as I never bother looking lol
the ATO will take what they need and let you know afterwards
You may want to check though.
Happy to be corrected if my information is outdated, but from what I last heard if your HECS is being deducted automatically from your pay, it may not stop deducting just because it is fully paid off, and you will need to apply to the ATO if you want a "refund" of any HECS debt you have overpaid…
Interesting thanks! I go to an accountant to get my tax done so he would hopefully let me know!
I needed to tell my employer to stop deducting tax from my pay. Good to ask your accountant if you still have a debt as the money is better off in your pocket now.
Not entirely true, if you tell your employer you have hecs, they'll still withhold it as part of your PAYG tax.
When you do your tax return, you'll simply get it all back. You don't have to separately apply for it back. All tax withheld in PAYG looks the same to them until tax time.
Makes sense - thanks for clarifying!
Double degree B Com / B A, not long after finishing the degree I wiped the slate clean by drawing a $25k cheque to the ATO (right before next indexation, and back when the ATO still gave discount for early repayment).
Wouldn't do it now though with the discount finished, and in hindsight wished I bought property in bloody Sydney sooner instead.
Degrees: Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Economics (double degree), Masters of Applied Economics
Debt: Peaked at about $51K a couple of years back, now its at around $45K. Been working for 5 years now but barely paid it off as the first few years were under threshold, and then I got a novated lease which kept my income under the threshold for a while longer.
I studied Finance and Economics. Did you end up working in economics? That was my dream but ended up in finance.
Accounting actually. But I did get offered a few economics jobs which I didn't end up taking
Degree: Bach. Civil Engineering
Hecs: 35k approx.BSc: Chemistry was $14400, paid off in 5 years. Made almost half of it back with HECS-HELP benefit for Science Graduates.
How does that work exactly? (out of interest for when i finish my education). Is it a discount? or just you get more time to pay the same amount?
Edit: The HECS-HELP Benefit will be removed from 1 June 2017.
Oh LameYes it's ending this year but as long as I had earned enough to contribute to repayments, they paid $1700+ into by bank each financial year.
Bachelor of Veterinary Science - around $35k. Did an internship and now in a residency to specialise. Wont be paying off my HECS anytime soon!
I would've thought vet science was a good earner? I mean, as an accountant, people can have a crack at their books or taxation themselves, but fixing their own dog not so much.
vet science from what i remember was found to have the worst (study/fee: salary) ratio.. new grad salary is around 50k and really progresses slowly. I think you only start earning a good wage either from becoming a practice partner or specialising..
Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) - graduated end of 2015
HECS: $0About 4 grand, Diploma of IT Networking. Completely worthless degree and I wasn't expecting the debt.
Two industries that don't seem to care about vocational education certification: finance and IT.
Reading the amount of debt is frightening :(
It quickly gets eclipsed by property investment loans. What could possibly go wrong!
Bachelor electrical eng.
about 35k.Bachelor of Law / Bachelor of Commerce. Around $54k outstanding for 5 years of study
About $40k - Software Engineering
Same! A bit higher though. About $42k
I took my time, made a few mistakes. No ragrets.where do you study, that's very high
Bachelor of Accounting was about ~$30k. No hecs, paid upfront (which had a substantial discount)
*don't use it in my current job…..
I did my degree in the early '90s and the hecs debt was only about $6-7K. I paid it off straight away when I got a job so I could put it behind me.
I didn't learn much from my degree but it was a ticket to a good job, which I got quickly. Yeah, an expensive ticket plus three years of my life.
I'm a big supporter of on the job learning. I learned more on the job in six months than three years at uni, plus I was earning a good wage. The apprenticeship system should apply to a much wider range of jobs, not just trade. A bit sad that these days you need a degree to get your foot in the door for many jobs. And it is just a ticket.
I know a couple of professional (perpetual) students, and they'll be taking their hecs debt to the grave with them. At least that's what they are hoping.Unfortunately that's going to happen anytime soon. Nowadays the universities have extended the course lengths from 3 years to 4 years for a lot of courses. My course was 4 year and it was 3 years 8-10 years ago and 2 years 20 years ago. When they had 2 year course they had a apprenticeship model which was perfect. Nowadays you can do a expensive degree and not get a job.
Which (real) degree was 2 years 20 years ago. That was 1997 I think time's escaping you.
Oops did not mean 20. People that have been working for 30 years plus had to do a 2-3 apprenticeship based course. Basically you attend uni for 2 days and do placement/internship for 3 days. I don't know the exact details but that's what I have heard.
The norm 30 years ago was 3 year degrees.
I didn't have the equivalent of HECS where I come from, but I paid for my degree with a combination of a bursary and the university's student loan, a loan only eligible to poor students. Repayments on this loan started 6 months after graduation or upon securing employment, at an interest rate based on the average prime lending rate of our big banks at that time.
On top of that, I had to sign a government agreement to serve in the public sector for 5 years upon graduation.
After about 4.5 years, when I could no longer tolerate working in the public sector, I broke the agreement and had to pay damages (with compounded interest) of about $35,000. That was 24 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.
After about 4.5 years, …. pay damages (with compounded interest) of about $35,000.
Did you give in with half a year to go? ^_^
Yes, I was offered a position in the private sector and had to start ASAP.
Wow - that's harsh! 4.5 out of 5 years - I would've thought that they might've pro-rated the amount owing!
@bobbified: It was pro-rated by the number of completed months of service. I had to sell my soul to the
devilEX-mother-in-law for the $35+K cheque to pay them off. :((((After pro-rata, it was still $35K??? If I pro-rata it back up, it's $350K! I don't know what the interest and damages were, but say the initial amount was $200K… what did you study??
That's like escaping from jail when you've completed 9 years of 10-year sentence. But then again, we're talking the public service here and that can be like being locked down in the hole. I bet you still think you made the right decision. You can't put a price on sanity.
The amount of liquidated damages is based on the total amount of the government *subsidy for the course, not the tuition fees charged by the university.
*all undergraduate tuition fees are heavily subsidized by the government in the form of tuition grants.
I did Bachelor of Health Science/Masters of Physio the good old La Trobe one of the cheapest Unis to attend in Australia ended up being around 35k.
I owe nothing being the only one of 3 to go to uni got bribed with the 'if you go to Uni ill pay for your education' trick - both my brother and sister started a business make triple my salary you tell me who did the right thing?
Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science 2005-2007
Graduate Diploma Exercise Science 2008
Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery 2009-12Current HECs debt is probably around 15k
nil debt. studied and worked to pay bill and education.
Bachelor of Biology - Overseas - tuition fee scho. - $0.00
Masters in Molecular Biology - Overseas - tuition fee scho. - $0.00
Ph.D. in Biochemistry - tuition and APA scho. - $0.00Yes, came here to brag and yes, I am jobless at the moment!
Hi,
Looking at doing a master's overseas on the cheap… But it seems most European countries are clawing back on free for overseas students now.
Which country did you study in?
I am an immigrant. I did bachelors and masters at government universities in Turkey and they were free to most people who would satisfy basic scholarship criteria. then emigrated to Oz to do my Ph.D. which is always free if you get a tuition fee scholarship. Looks good on paper but everyone can do it, especially if they feel like masochistic!
Awesome.
Looking at doing master's overseas, in the cheap…
Where did you study?
It seems most European countries now charge substantially for foreign students.
Double degree, Bachelor of Economics/Bachelor of I.T.
Graduated in 2014 with a HECS debt of 45k, down to 38k now.I'd say the system works pretty well. I barely notice the HECS repayment being taken out of my pay.
140 or somewhere around there
Llb/bcom + mbbsSo are you working now as a lawyer, accountant or doctor ?
Bachelor of Commerce. Estimating but i think mid 20k's back iN 09.
Only got 4.3k left. 4.1k when i lodge my tax return will be reduced. i estimated about 230 bucks more which will come out of my new job in 2 x weekly pays. Pretty excited. Finally free.
Crazy anyone but doctors having close to 100k debt, hope you work it out OP.
Op now you just need to save $150k for a house deposit then take out a $600k home loan.
Adv.Dip Fin.Serv (Comp & Conv)
B.S&R-Mng (Evt Mng & Ass Mng)
B.Bus (Fin & Management)
LLB (Prop Law)Zero debt, as I went through on a full athletic scholarship for 4 years doing the double degree, then paid up-front to do my law & compliance qual's part time once working full time. I have 3 degrees, 2 adv diploma's and 3 diploma's all up, but the above are the relevant one's. No debt owing for any of them. Took 4 yr's of full time study and then another 4yr's + of part time study all up.
Originally did a Business degree which I didn't entirely apply myself to - the market afterwards was just following the GFC and employment was very competitive. Debt around 30k.
After 6 months of applying for full-time employment and not being successful I returned to do an IT degree. Applied myself this time and got a job prior to graduation - Debt was about 51k including the business degree.
Paid off nearly 27k in my first year of employment to get the debt to a smaller level so indexing didn't hurt as much. Probably should have held onto it though but will just let tax time do the rest till it's gone.
I did my undergrad between 1998 and 2001. That was around 20k in Hecs but obviously have paid that off now. I then did a PhD but all paid for by the government under an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship. PhD doesn't really add much to my current role in management. But good to fallback on later if I decide to go back to research/teaching.
B. Pharmacy 45k - useless degree, no one do it
All 3 people I know who did pharmacy are sitting on >$100k 5 years out of uni.
Really? Are they in community pharmacy or somewhere else?
Also curious where they work? The pharmacists I know in retail, earn a slightly higher wage than working at Coles.
The 50+ pharmacists I know all earn less than 80k, with one earning 83k
Would this be pharmacy owners? Because yes they would earn a lot, also rural pharmacists can earn 100-140k
But never anywhere around sydney or any major city3 different Perth Hospitals, 1 casual (working a few years full time now though) and 2 full time.
So the pay is up to 60k more in a regional center where housing is half the price and people don't jump at it? You city people are loco.
Due to my South-east Asian background, my parents were more than happy to pay about $30,000 for my undergraduate. I moved to Australia in 2015 and started studying post-grad with my own saved money.
My HECS debt? Expecting to pay for my children's education, the way my parents paid for me.
Bachelor of Biomedical Science (waste of $ & 3 years).
Bachelor of Laws.
Postgrad Diploma in Legal Practice.
Total $55,000 in 2008. Paid off this year.any additional/voluntary payment required?
Too far back to remember for sure but there was a contribution of 500 or so per semester, I believe. Discounted if you paid by due date & in a lump sum.
I also made voluntary repayment of 18k at the end of last year to finalise the hecs & make use of the soon to expire 5% discount.
Bachelor of Software Engineering. Currently in my 2nd year.
$0 HECS Debt, paid upfront. Plan to keep paying up front and graduate debt free.
way to go mate, i wish i did that whilst at uni.
Keep that up.Thanks mate. Instead of having a huge $40k debt over my head after graduating, I'd rather pay $4k per semester as long as I can. If I can't for a sem/year, I don't mind relying on HECS.
You should get some financial advice, but if you are going to buy a home/apartment in the future, and using post-tax earnings to pay upfront, you should consider sacrificing to superannuation to take advantage of the $30,000 first home saver scheme since you'd only pay 15% tax on your pre-tax income
Since there's little to no upfront HECS discount, I wouldn't pay upfront in your situation
Yeah after they took out the 10% upfront discount this year, I was a bit pissed. I guess I should re-evaluate my situation.
As for using super for first home saver scheme, I have that in the back of my mind but not really focused too much on buying a home straight away. Esp not in Sydney/Melb.
Dentistry + Bachelor of Computer Science.
6 years in total (hopefully).
HECS Debt - Dentistry ~ $55,000.
Computer Science ~ $20,000
Total ~ $75,000That's a strange combination.
Which profession do you plan on working?
Software Engineer 5 days and 1 day a week as a Dentist.
Didn't really like Dentistry tbh, but was too far into the course. So attached a CS degree to it and am trying to finish both at the same time (double graduation).
Got an internship with a Big 4 bank this summer, which is sweet!
Ultimately, aiming for California after graduation.
That's good. At least you will have options. I have just finished studying and now working in Healthcare and am planning to study something completely different.
I ended up with around 40k with a Bachelor of Arts, 2x grad certs and a fee paying Masters. Ive got 12k left but am chucking this working business in next year and returning to uni to hopefully study dentistry. So maybe add another 60-70k there. My wife has given me 12 months to get in and then the course, so if I dont get in this year or next year I will put that dream on the shelf.
Good luck getting into Dentistry!
PM if you want some tips on applications.
Thanks! Im 99% sure I will get into Griffith and am waiting on UMAT results to hear about my preferred uni of UQ.
I see you did dentistry and computer science? Was dentistry your first or second degree?
Griffith is pretty straight forward to get in. But the FF for the final two years, kill it.
Good luck with the UMAT. UQ Dent is the hardest course to get in. I would take UQ > Griffith.
I am doing Dentistry + CS simultaneously. My Dentistry is an undergrad CSP.
Would also look at JCU, CSU, La Trobe and Uni Adelaide if your willing to move interstate (these are all CSP).
Bachelor of Aviation.
It's down to around $106k now I believe..
are you flying now or in management?
Beng.
Bf.
Bacc.