Changes in Costs for Australian Higher Education Students from the 1996/97 Budget

Summary

In 1989 an Australian Labour government introduced a "Higher Education Contribution Scheme" (HECS) which combines study fees with income contingent loans. The intention of this fee scheme was to collect study fees from the students without creating by that way financial barriers for the access to universities. After a change of governments the Conservative Party modified many parameters of this model (amount of fees, maximum income) since 1996. The uniform fee was replaced by a graduation in the different branches of study. This article presents these changes in detail and discusses the question whether they jeopardize the original intention of HECS.