what kind of HECs do you pay for a combined degree? (1 Viewer)

[spin spin sugar]

i want to do a combined BA Communications/Law degree at UTS (5 years) so i'm kind of curious about what HECS i will pay. i know that the HECS payments for Law are the highest, whereas arts are the lowest. would i be paying Arts hecs, law hecs, both... or half of each?? i have no idea how this works but i know i can't really afford a huge amount of debt.

 

[Frigid]

basically it's how many units of arts and how many units of law... so i think you'd be paying about the mid-range (5 grand?)

go UTS BA (international studies) LLB!

 

[Raiks]

Yeah, what happens is that you pay the appropriate level of HECS for each subject you do, so for each subject, arts might be $400 while law might be $600 per a subject.... a HECS debt is only payable voluntarily or when you start earning more than $26,000p.a. and even then, it's taken out of your pay the same as tax is, so you won't notice it that much, because you can't miss what you've never had.

So for a double degree, you'll end up with a higher HECS debt due to the more subjects you have to complete to earn your double degree.

 

[Generator]

If you can't afford the debt (even though you may not notice it, as Raiks has already said, although that isn't necessarily true) then don't take a degree that spans five years.

 

[Lexicographer]

Look at it this way. Law HECS is about $7000 per semester for a degree of all law subjects, yes? And arts would be about $4000 for the same. I'm using approximate figures to make the maths to come easier.

For a combined degree, imagine that you take ten subjects a semester: six law and four arts. HECS for law is charged towards the proportion of your subjects which are law subjects, and the same for art. Therefore, 60% of your program this semester would be law (6/10 $7000) and 40% of your subjects would be arts (4/10 $4000). Add these together and you get your 10/10, as well as your HECS debt for this semester.

4/10 $4000 = $1600
6/10 $7000 = $4200
Total debt = $5700

Cheaper than a semester of just law subjects ($7000) until you realise that you have an extra year of HECS.

 

[Lexicographer]

Originally posted by Generator
If you can't afford the debt (even though you may not notice it, as Raiks has already said, although that isn't necessarily true) then don't take a degree that spans five years.

Students shouldn't look at degrees in terms of cost, because relative to the rest of the Western World (ie everywhere else) our system is very cheap. Degrees are generally priced in accordance with a) cost of instruction and b) projected income.

a) is how much the university pays to provide the facilities of education (eg labs and cadavers for med students). These costs are a LOT more than what HECS reels in, and is covered by the government from taxes.

b) is how much graduates usually make in their careers. Generally doctors, lawyers, vets and dentists will have little problem affording the HECS debt. Of course, their starting income is usually over the payment threshold and so they will feel the sting of their debt as soon as they graduate. First band graduates (arts etc) may have more difficulty affording their debt, which is why the threshold is in place. They will not have to pay HECS until they are earning enough in their careers to live suitably and still afford the payments.

The thing most students are protesting to is the fact that HECS can keep students in debt for a significant length of their active lifetime, and that the government is charging fees that are too high, perpetuating this debt. Overall this system is excellent (in that even more financially dependent people can get to university without requiring hundred-thousand dollar loans), except for the fees demanded of students (unlike back in our teachers day when the government paid students to study at university).

 

[Raiks]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
Look at it this way. Law HECS is about $7000 per semester for a degree of all law subjects, yes? And arts would be about $4000 for the same. I'm using approximate figures to make the maths to come easier.

Those numbers might be a little bit high, because doing a 4 subject semester of all commerce subjects is equal to about $2600 at semester at UOW... so don't think you're going to racking up a HECS debt of $14000 a year for 5 years, it's not that bad.

Important thing to remember is that you only start paying your HECS back when you start earning over $26,000p.a. which is the magical figure the government worked out to be when you can afford to pay it back... It's not like you'll be looking for work and still having to pay back a HECS debt. And when you start having to pay it back, it's taken out as a % of what your earning like tax is, so it's not like you'll be having to pay back a certain amount each week, it varies to what you earn.

Try looking at the HECS brochure available at most centrelinks and universities and probably even career advisors, that explains a lot regarding the money side of things.

 

[Lexicographer]

I was just using those figures to explain the process, so they are probably wrong. But you got what I meant.

As for HECS book, it should be required reading for any HECS paying uni student. Actually...it IS. What Raiks said is right, it's taken out as a percentage of your net income along with tax, and it's only a small percentage. You really shouldn't notice it unless you NEED that extra $50 or however much it is per month.

 

[Raiks]

Yeah, i knew you were just using the figures, but I didn't want anyone to think that they'd be accruing $14,000 a year in debt... because thats enough to scare most people.

 

[Generator]

People shouldn't look at it as a cost, but as you can see from the first post, people do.