partnership Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 Can you get a hecs loan to study if you are working? If so how do repayments work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 Hi, yes pretty sure you can. But you have to be a citizen from memory. They will only fund you so many times at each level. So I think it was 3 undergraduate degrees for example. They then take the repayments straight from your wages once you earn over a certain amount. Sorry I don’t know what that amount is these days, $52000 or there abouts maybe? Others will be better informed. Sorry lots of maybes in my answer! What are you thinking of doing? That might help others with a more detailed answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partnership Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 Thanks Amber. My son has been studying part time to be a teacher. He works full time as does his wife with 2 children. He has struggled to pay the fees. He has just got his citizen cert and thinking about getting the loan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 I think you need to do a certain amount of study/ units to qualify as well. My Son did 75% each semester to fit work and got HECS. If he works less and studies more he might also be entitled to Aus study payments via Centrelink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 3 hours ago, partnership said: Thanks Amber. My son has been studying part time to be a teacher. He works full time as does his wife with 2 children. He has struggled to pay the fees. He has just got his citizen cert and thinking about getting the loan. It’s hard isn’t it. I have always admired people who retrain once they have more “life responsibilities”, I have never been able to afford to and now can’t be bothered anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 I'm studying with the Open Uni and I use HECS to pay for the study. As long as my yearly income never goes above the threshold set by the ATO I'll never have to pay it back. I just checked the ATO website and the threshold is nil below $47014, then 1 per cent up to $54,282, and increases by 1 per cent gradually. https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/HELP,-TSL-and-SFSS-repayment-thresholds-and-rates/#HELPandTSLrepaymentthresholdsandrates201 I did pay about $3,000 in HECS about five years ago when I had a "big" year for income but usually I pay nothing. If you do have to pay HECS you do it on your tax return not when you enrol in a course/unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 On 19/03/2022 at 03:54, MARYROSE02 said: I'm studying with the Open Uni and I use HECS to pay for the study. As long as my yearly income never goes above the threshold set by the ATO I'll never have to pay it back. I just checked the ATO website and the threshold is nil below $47014, then 1 per cent up to $54,282, and increases by 1 per cent gradually. https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/HELP,-TSL-and-SFSS-repayment-thresholds-and-rates/#HELPandTSLrepaymentthresholdsandrates201 I did pay about $3,000 in HECS about five years ago when I had a "big" year for income but usually I pay nothing. If you do have to pay HECS you do it on your tax return not when you enrol in a course/unit. Why are you studying though? To what end? If it is just a pursuit out of boredom, what is the point and why should the taxpayer fund your leisure activity? If you are really expecting your education to lead to paid employment then fair enough, but if you never end up paying increased tax from your education then people will ask why should we fund you? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 4 hours ago, Parley said: Why are you studying though? To what end? If it is just a pursuit out of boredom, what is the point and why should the taxpayer fund your leisure activity? If you are really expecting your education to lead to paid employment then fair enough, but if you never end up paying increased tax from your education then people will ask why should we fund you? I agree with this. A few years ago I worked with a women who left to do a three year full time university course. She was late 40’s and bored with her job. She only worked part time and said even after her degree she would only ever work part time. She openly said she took the study loan to cover the £28k overall cost knowing she would never pay any of it back because she’d never earn enough. Her husband had a high paying job and they had money so her working was a choice. The degree was like a leisurely thing to her. It was something to do with nutrition which she was interested in (she was a vegan and always talked about that sort of thing) essentially the tax payers of the country are paying for her enjoyed hobby. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 Technically speaking the taxpayers are paying the university to provide the course. You could argue if only people who where going to pay it back did degrees the university system would collapse and we would all be the worse for it. There are plenty of worse wastes of public money than this to get worried about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 On 13/04/2022 at 03:24, Parley said: Why are you studying though? To what end? If it is just a pursuit out of boredom, what is the point and why should the taxpayer fund your leisure activity? If you are really expecting your education to lead to paid employment then fair enough, but if you never end up paying increased tax from your education then people will ask why should we fund you? That's like telling someone not to take a tax deduction because you don't like it. If the government are happy to pay then let him learn. The government can change the law if they don't like it. I was also thinking about going to university for fun in the near future. Why shouldn't I? I've paid taxes all my life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 On 18/03/2022 at 16:54, MARYROSE02 said: I'm studying with the Open Uni and I use HECS to pay for the study. As long as my yearly income never goes above the threshold set by the ATO I'll never have to pay it back. I just checked the ATO website and the threshold is nil below $47014, then 1 per cent up to $54,282, and increases by 1 per cent gradually. https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/HELP,-TSL-and-SFSS-repayment-thresholds-and-rates/#HELPandTSLrepaymentthresholdsandrates201 I did pay about $3,000 in HECS about five years ago when I had a "big" year for income but usually I pay nothing. If you do have to pay HECS you do it on your tax return not when you enrol in a course/unit. What are you studying if you don't mind me asking? I haven't made up my mind yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted April 14, 2022 Share Posted April 14, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Jon the Hat said: Technically speaking the taxpayers are paying the university to provide the course. You could argue if only people who where going to pay it back did degrees the university system would collapse and we would all be the worse for it. There are plenty of worse wastes of public money than this to get worried about. They are paying the university to provide the course because the student is borrowing the money to take that course. It makes no difference if the loan is given direct to the university or if it could be passed to the student to pay to the university. The result is the same. The tax payers are paying for that students fees. My son is at uni and his uni fees are being paid for by the tax payers. He filled out an application asking for a loan to cover his uni fees and his loan amount was given to the uni to cover the fees. You’re right that many don’t ever pay it back as they don’t ever earn the £27k pa minimum. The loans are there for the taking so no one is doing wrong by applying. If you know it’s a certain that you have no intention of ever paying it back it’s perhaps morally not the best but yes, there’s plenty of worse wastes of public money. Whether that makes it ok to let others cover the cost of your expensive hobbies is for the individual to decide. Edited April 14, 2022 by Tulip1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partnership Posted April 14, 2022 Author Share Posted April 14, 2022 It is my son who is studying to be a teacher and it is a career he wants to follow. He is working full time and has a family so the cost of study is an issue. Thank you to those who responded with information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 On 12/03/2022 at 17:24, partnership said: Can you get a hecs loan to study if you are working? If so how do repayments work. You get the loan but if you're income is over the ATO threshold you have to pay Hecs when you do your return. I can't remember the cut off. 55k or is it lower? It goes up by degrees too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 On 14/04/2022 at 15:59, Tulip1 said: They are paying the university to provide the course because the student is borrowing the money to take that course. In Australia at least this isn't entirely true. If a student is getting a HECS loan then they are a commonwealth supported student and the government fess a portion of the fees and the HECS loan pays the rest. Even if someone was to pay the HECS loan back in full as soon as they left, or was to pay the fees rather than taking a HECS loan (as students with PR would do) the government will still pay a portion of the fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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