Paying for uni? HECS vs Upfront payment (3 Viewers)

[oct25]

Hi, I'm in the process of enrolling for economics at unsw.

I have given my TFN so obviously I'll be getting HECS but its still asking me how I intend to pay for my 'student contribution'.

Should I pay this upfront or use HECS for it? How much is student contribution?

If I were to use HECS for this would there be like an interest rate thing happening?

Thanks!

 

[sinophile]

Hi, I'm in the process of enrolling for economics at unsw.

I have given my TFN so obviously I'll be getting HECS but its still asking me how I intend to pay for my 'student contribution'.

Should I pay this upfront or use HECS for it? How much is student contribution?

If I were to use HECS for this would there be like an interest rate thing happening?

Thanks!

Hmm, the answers to your questions can be easily answered by reading the PDF file about HECs that they gave you. But since its so huge, I don't really blame you. Ha ha ha!

 

[spazamataz]

I'm considering the same thing. I think its much cheaperr to pay upfront because of the 20% discount, but the HECS loan is the best you will ever get

I think i might pay half of my tuition and HECS the other half

 

[oct25]

I'm considering the same thing. I think its much cheaperr to pay upfront because of the 20% discount, but the HECS loan is the best you will ever get

I think i might pay half of my tuition and HECS the other half

I just decided to take advantage of HECS. Won't have to pay anything till I graduate and find a job. =)

Is there any chance that they could reject your application? Im asking because I just realised that they could say no to you.

What would happen then?

 

[Will Shakespear]

I think if you save the money and put the same amount, like over your whole degree, towards a larger deposit on a house then you come out massively ahead over the life of a loan as compared to if you got the 20% discount

that's only if you plan to buy a house though, lol but it's an example of how one can benefit more from the basically-free-loan

 

[ajdlinux]

Also once you do get a HECS debt, you can get a 10% bonus on any voluntary repayments you make later on. So the 20% upfront discount probably isn't worth it unless you have heaps of money already.

 

[Andi0390]

As long as you are an Australian citizen they won't reject you. It is something that everyone is entitled to.

If you have the money then its probably not a bad idea to pay it, or if your parents are paying thats also not a bad thing, but I don't think it would be worth going around and working heaps to try and save up for it. With the money you would get now compared to your graduate salary it will be much easier to pay it later.

There is an indexation fee charged annually, last year it was 3.9%. So your debt will, slowly, grow.

 

[oly1991]

im doing HECS but i still dont know how much i will pay at the end of my course. could some explain this to me?

thx

 

[Bananaberry]

I paid all but one semester of my HECS up front. My degree woudl of cost $16k with no discount, but it has only cost me $12k becuuse of the upfront payments.

In my opinion, it may seem easy to not care about paying anything until you are working, but I'm paying about $70 in tax extra per week to re-pay my HECS. Lucky I only have to do it for a year and then I owe nothing.

Even if you pay $500 a semester you still get a discount. It is worth doing.

 

[annabackwards]

Just get HECS and pay it off when you can, just make sure they're in installments of $500 or more - that's what i'm planning to do

 

[Will Shakespear]

As long as you are an Australian citizen they won't reject you. It is something that everyone is entitled to.

If you have the money then its probably not a bad idea to pay it, or if your parents are paying thats also not a bad thing, but I don't think it would be worth going around and working heaps to try and save up for it. With the money you would get now compared to your graduate salary it will be much easier to pay it later.

There is an indexation fee charged annually, last year it was 3.9%. So your debt will, slowly, grow.

that's called CPI - everything else goes up by that so it's not a real money increase

 

[ajdlinux]

I paid all but one semester of my HECS up front. My degree woudl of cost $16k with no discount, but it has only cost me $12k becuuse of the upfront payments.

In my opinion, it may seem easy to not care about paying anything until you are working, but I'm paying about $70 in tax extra per week to re-pay my HECS. Lucky I only have to do it for a year and then I owe nothing.

Even if you pay $500 a semester you still get a discount. It is worth doing.

If you're paying $70 a week in HECS repayments, then you'd be earning about $60,000 or so, am I right?

 

[Bananaberry]

I'm on $65k ex super and benefits..Just checked my payslip and I pay $75 a week in HECS repayments..knew it was around the 70 mark

 

[madsam]

Its not really, pay it back when you want, they take it out of your bank account when you start earning over 40k a year

So dont go thinking you wont have to pay it off until you're 30...

 

[Lou283]

it boggles me that anyone (other than those where their parents are paying) have enough money to just pay it all up front!

Anyone have an extra $30,000 they wanna throw my way . . .

In saying that I pay rent etc so I guess if you pay no expenses and work you may be able to do it.

 

[spence]

it boggles me that anyone (other than those where their parents are paying) have enough money to just pay it all up front!

Anyone have an extra $30,000 they wanna throw my way . . .

In saying that I pay rent etc so I guess if you pay no expenses and work you may be able to do it.

Also, they don't pay for the entire degree upfront, just each semester. That is pretty easily doable for me, but there are other things I'd rather spend my money on

 

[spazamataz]

it boggles me that anyone (other than those where their parents are paying) have enough money to just pay it all up front!

Anyone have an extra $30,000 they wanna throw my way . . .

In saying that I pay rent etc so I guess if you pay no expenses and work you may be able to do it.

My parents have offered to pay for me, but I feel a bit guilty doing it. Besides, it actually ends up much cheaper than high school was for me!!

 

[Ethanescence]

I'm going to pay upfront with my own money I earn from part-time work on the weekends and during the holidays.

 

[withoutaface]

I'm going to pay upfront with my own money I earn from part-time work on the weekends and during the holidays.

You're a dipshit. Put that in a term deposit and pay it all off at the end of your course.

 

[Bananaberry]

Its not really, pay it back when you want, they take it out of your bank account when you start earning over 40k a year

So dont go thinking you wont have to pay it off until you're 30...

No, they take it out of your tax. i.e If you are earning in the minimum income bracket to pay back HECS $43-48k you pay back 4%.
I'm paying almost $4k in HECS this year (although I'll probably get a refund becuase its more than I owe)
It may not seem like much out of your annual income, but when its coming out weekly and you have a morgage and bills to pay, it can be annoying.

Its not hard to pay your HECS as you go. My degree was a band 2, and I was only paying around $2 a semester after I got the discount.