HECS indexation reveals student owes $53,000 more as Australians feel cost of living pinch
Revealed: Australia’s largest HECS debt with one student paying an extra $50,000 due to inflation
- Biggest HECS Increases Revealed
- One student owes an additional $53,000
The devastating impact of inflation on the country’s largest student debt holders has been revealed.
The remaining balance of all student loans across Australia rose 7.1 per cent in June – the biggest increase in three decades – following an annual adjustment to keep loans in line with the cost of living.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed in April has exposed just how much debt has piled on top of struggling students and former students.
An anonymous former scholar saw the High Higher Education Loan Program debt rise by $53,000 as a result of the latest indexation.
The devastating impact of inflation on the country’s largest student debt holders has been revealed
The increase brings their total debt to a whopping total of $790,473.20.
It is the largest student loan in the country, according to Australian tax records.
The second highest debt now stands at $531,000, and the top ten highest loans are all over $328,000.
The smallest loan on the list – at number 100 – is $235,000.
HECS-HELP student loans are indexed annually in line with the consumer price index, but this year’s increase has been particularly painful for debt holders.
The indexation rate has almost doubled since last year when loans increased by 3.9 percent.
It was a huge jump after the CPI fell to 0.6 percent in the first year of the pandemic.
Before that, the highest indexation rate in 2014 was 2.6 percent.
The remaining balance of all student loans across Australia rose 7.1 per cent in June – the biggest increase in three decades – following an annual adjustment to keep loans in line with the cost of living
Someone who is still paying off a 2013 HECS debt has already seen their debt increase 10 times.
About three million Australians had some form of student debt, totaling about $74 billion, as of June 2022.
The average student loan of $22,636 was increased by about $1584.52 during the June hike, according to research from the Parliamentary Library.
The federal government came under intense pressure last month from MPs from several banks and the National Students Union to lower the indexation rate to a more manageable size or even freeze it.