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Help with HECS shortfalls
University sets up funding to assist students in making ends meet.
The University of Southern Queensland has established a $ 15 million fund to help students cope with expenses. The USQ Student Endowment Fund( USEF) will pay for university bursaries and scholarships that help students meet costs HECS doesn’ t cover. USQ has committed $ 5 million immediately to the USEF and will provide a further $ 10 million to match private donations.
USQ vice-chancellor professor Jan Thomas said this new initiative shows the university is sensitive to the needs of its students.
“ Living expenses can be quite [ costly ] for students and for many, particularly those who come from backgrounds that aren’ t necessarily privileged, things like living away from home can be quite expensive,” she said.“ While there’ s no doubt things like being able to defer your student fees on the HECS scheme is great, there’ s ongoing costs associated with just enrolling in university degrees.
“ We’ re sensitive to that and we want to do whatever we can to minimise the burden of study for our students.”
As a result, she said, many students were forced into part-time work in order to finance their full-time studies.
With many of USQ’ s students coming from relatively low socioeconomic backgrounds, Thomas said, USEF would help breakdown the financial barriers to university and help students focus more on their degrees and help fund work placements.
“ If we can take some of the burden away from that, so they have to take fewer shifts, that can help with their study,” Thomas said.“ Obviously, professional programs require students to travel for things like placements. [ For example ], nursing and teaching require students to do placements, which require students to maybe go and live somewhere [ for two weeks or a month ]. Not only do they miss out on things like their earnings from a part-time job, they also have to pay for living expenses while they’ re on placement.” ■
Overseas debt recovery on horizon
Two bills before Parliament would require former students earning income outside Australia to start paying off their loans.
The federal government may soon be able to begin recouping millions of dollars in unpaid HECS loans, following the introduction of legislation that would require overseas-based Australian graduates to make repayments.
Last year, HECS architect professor Bruce Chapman ANU colleague Dr Timothy Higgins indicated that $ 40 million to $ 45 million was lost annually as a result of graduates not having any obligation to repay their HECS debts while working outside Australia.
However, under the Education Legislation Amendment( Overseas Debt Recovery) Bill 2015, and the Student Loans( Overseas Debtors Repayment Levy) Bill 2015 – introduced in Parliament in September – the government would begin to claw back some of this money from January next year.
“ From 1 January 2016, all Australians with current and new HELP and TSL debt who move overseas for six months or more will be required to notify the ATO via the myGov website to facilitate repayments,” then-education minister Christopher Pyne said of the proposed laws.“ And from 1 July 2017, Australians with HELP and TSL debts who are non-residents for tax purposes will be required to assess their total Australian and foreign-sourced income in order to make incomecontingent repayments, starting with the 2016 17 financial year.”
Pyne said only graduates earning above the repayment income threshold – currently about $ 54,000 dollars a year – would be expected to make repayments.
Meanwhile, Universities Australia has welcomed additional measures contained within the bills that it said would reduce red tape related to serving international students. UA deputy chief executive Anne-Marie Lansdown said the changes would reduce multiple repetitive and expensive reporting and registration requirements, while streamlining quality assurance processes.
“ Unfortunately, compliance is now at a point where certain provisions are limiting student choice and the capacity of education providers to provide the best options for their students,” she said.“ These bills address the concerns head on.” ■
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