More Choices For The New Generation

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday January 17, 2003

Aban Contractor

But some students will quickly need a reality check, reports Aban Contractor Higher Education Writer

So, you're in! University life beckons. You're picturing long days lounging on clipped lawns, sipping beers and hanging out with mates.

Days interrupted, only ever so occasionally, by the chore of penning lengthy assignments.

It's a pleasant enough day dream. But, today, when universities in NSW and the ACT make offers to almost 48,000 people, the real world will kick in.

Questions will be asked. Did you pick the right university for your needs? Does the course really turn you on, or did you just follow your mates' lead?

All questions that will be answered pretty quickly once you arrive on campus. Changing courses is not hard. Moving from one university to another is a little harder, but it can be done. In fact, it is not unknown for some students to change courses, degrees and universities more than once.

But there are some things you can't change. Every year the queues of students waiting to enrol, get a library card and buy textbooks get longer. Also, fees and other charges that you have to hand over wherever you study are getting higher.

Strangely, people tend not to mention these facts when touting the wonders of university life. The fees and charges are especially important, if only because you, and probably your parents, will have to decide how and when you're going to pay them.

HECS, that's the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, requires your attention now. Because if you have the cash to pay your fees upfront and don't, it will cost you a lot of money.

Let's go back a step. Every year the Government sets the ``HECS contribution levels". That is, what most students will pay for a particular course.

This year, students studying arts and humanities, justice, legal studies, social science and behavioural science, visual and performing arts, education and nursing will pay $3680. Those studying mathematics and computing, other health sciences, agriculture and renewable resources, built environment and architecture, science, engineering and processing, and administration, business and economics courses will pay $5242.

The fee jumps to $6136 for students who scored spots in law, medicine and medical science, dentistry and dental services, and veterinary science.

What you pay is determined on the census dates of March 31 and August 29. If you pull out of a course before then you won't be charged. Forget to do it and not only could you be stuck with a subject you hate, but you have to pay for it.

Most students pay HECS after they graduate. That is, they defer paying their fees until they finish university, find a job and earn an income that exceeds what is known in public service speak as ``the minimum threshold". This year that threshold is $24,365.

When you earn that figure the Australian Tax Office steps in and starts deducting a percentage of your wage. For example, if you earn less than $24,365, you pay nothing. Earn between $24,365 and $25,694 and you pay 3 per cent of your gross salary on top of income tax. Earn between $25,695 and $27,688 and the tax office will take 3.5 per cent ... so it goes on.

But, as most new male graduates last year earned starting salaries of about $36,000 and most women starting salaries of about $34,000, the tax man is going to be knocking on most doors pretty quickly.

If you, or your parents, can afford to pay the money upfront that is by the census dates at the end of March and August you will be rewarded by the Government with a whopping 25 per cent discount and no debt hanging over your head when you begin work. About one in five students pull it off.

Kylie Rooke is a member of the 80 per cent brigade, the majority of students who will leave university with a substantial HECS debt.

A part-time student at the University of Newcastle for the last four years, she is studying arts, sociology and politics. For her, paying HECS upfront was never an option.

``I know someone who paid some of their HECS upfront but they had to live at home to afford that luxury," Rooke says.

``My original plan was to move to Macquarie University to study archaeology, but I wasn't eligible for Youth Allowance so I couldn't afford it. Newcastle is quite cheap. I live in a share house. It costs me about $75 a week. Then I have to pay for electricity, gas, water rates, food, clothes."

Added to that are the university must-haves. Tutorial readings about $15-$20 each textbooks, photocopying, course equipment and student association dues of about $350.

The new president of the National Union of Students, Daniel Kyriacou, says most students will work part-time for about 15 hours a week. Those lucky enough to receive Youth Allowance will get about $145 a week in income support.

``In capital cities like Sydney, that's just enough to cover the rent," he says.

``I moved from regional NSW to study arts and social work at Sydney University and just getting me and my stuff from home to here was really expensive. I worked two jobs and studied full-time just to make ends meet."

Rooke says no one she knows lives an extravagant lifestyle, but you need at least $120 a week to cover the essentials.

``If things get tough, go to your student association," she advises. ``They can point you in the right direction, maybe even help you out with a loan. Don't be ashamed to go."

A guide to university offers

Here's how to find your way around this guide, published by The Sydney Morning Herald in conjunction with the Universities Admissions Centre.

Main offers list (A to Z) Starts Page 3

The full list of students offered university places.

Find your name and university among the 47,000 who have been offered places in NSW and the ACT.

Early and preliminary offers lists (A to Z) Starts Page 19

These two smaller lists are an A to Z of students who received earlier offers typically potential students who completed their HSC or other entry requirements before 2002.

HECS students Page 2

List of more than 1200 courses, by institution and course code, including the universities admission index (UAI) cut-off score for each course.

Fee-paying students Page 2

List of UAI cut-off scores for courses taken by Australian students paying up-front fees.

© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home