Should our Higher Education system be more like America's?

SlavOz on 30/08/2022 - 10:38

America just cancelled a massive wave of student debt, essentially making college free for young students.

Australia seems to be going in the opposite direction. Not only do we still enforce uni debts, but prices have increased AND the government has implemented new laws around when and how they must be paid back. Eg - you can no longer go overseas and avoid the repayments. They follow you for life.

Should we do the same as 'Murica, or keep our existing pay-the-full-amount-yourself-on-layby scheme?

Poll Options

  • 559
    Keep our current system - students should pay their own way
  • 79
    America's is better - uni should be free
Education & Work

Comments

  • Cyphar on 01/09/2022 - 10:51
    +1

    Of the tens of millions that go to uni, tens of thousands, such a tiny fraction, of these have their debt cleared by the US government. A mere drop in the ocean. And yet you think uni there is free? The majority of people that have college debt will NEVER have their debt cleared. As an Australian, if you go to uni then chances are your uni fees are only a fraction of the cost of college fees in the US. My degree came up to a total of $18k. The same degree costs $120k at Texas A&M University.

  • Richmond Tigers on 01/09/2022 - 10:58

    yes for sport

  • wallet72 on 01/09/2022 - 12:38

    the US system was working fine… right until they opened student loans to sharks, private companies and any gold tooth hood with a roll of 20's. When a student pays years of payments and still owes more than when they started paying the system sucks. I know our govermnent adds interest, but the US student loan system makes loan sharks jealous.

  • Herbse on 01/09/2022 - 13:32
    +1

    You're wrong about education being free in the USA. But as a rule of thumb, nothing should be like in America.

  • jsparky77 on 01/09/2022 - 13:40
    +5

    This is such a poor take on reality I actually think it might be a shitpost. Wow.

    • buckster on 02/09/2022 - 07:35

      You suggest SlavOz might have actually done a shitpost? No Way!!

  • CharityCase on 01/09/2022 - 15:37

    America, (profanity) yeah!
    Comin' again to save the (profanity)' day, yeah

  • SeVeN11 on 01/09/2022 - 17:56

    The US effectively paid the university.

    Previously these student debt was a non current asset on the university balance sheet, now it's current asset as cash.

    University will then pay themselves a bonus and buy stocks.

    They just printing money to pay for this which is just another form of tax.

  • thirtysixd on 01/09/2022 - 18:09

    maybe mix of both

    degrees are extremely overpriced for what you get

    im pro bailing out student debt
    negative on feeding universities as most are pretty poorly run

  • helpme on 01/09/2022 - 18:15
    +2

    Why is this guy so stupid? He always posts lies

  • Wilson Wallace on 01/09/2022 - 18:34
    -1

    Why does everyone want free stuff? People need to be educated about finance, debt economy Etc. All America is going is adding to inflation. The kings of printing money.

    Keep the system the way it is. Otherwise, I agree with what the Vic goverment is doing providing free education if you study nursing. The federal government also lowered education pricing for sectors that are in demand and increased for sectors that we don’t need.

    • Eeples on 01/09/2022 - 19:25

      Some ppl think that education is a right and should be free much the same way some ppl think health care should be free.

    • Jolakot on 03/09/2022 - 14:06
      +1

      Our parents got free university, why shouldn't we?

      • Wilson Wallace on 03/09/2022 - 18:43

        They should also bring back corporal punishment.

        There is free education, however if you want to go to uni, it’s on hecs then you pay for it slowly as your earnings grow.

        • Jolakot on 04/09/2022 - 18:00
          +1

          Did corporal punishment make uni cheaper back then? I'd be happy to get a sharp slap on the wrist with a ruler if each one forgave $1k of HECs, sounds like a phenomenal deal

          My parents didn't have to pay anything back as their earnings grew, hence they were able to save that extra bit and buy a house quickly.

          All we're asking for is the same treatment, nothing extra

  • SupeNintendoChalmers on 01/09/2022 - 21:56
    +5

    America just cancelled a massive wave of student debt, essentially making college free for young students.

    This guy ^

     @-.
       _  )\\  _
      / \/ | \/ \
     @/`|/\/\/|`\@
        /~~~~~\
       |  ^ ^  |
       |   .   |
       | (\_/) |
    .-"-\ \_/ /-"-.
   / .-. \___/ .-. \
  @/` /.-.   .-.\ `\@

    jgs @\ /@
    @

  • virhlpool on 01/09/2022 - 22:30

    From the perspectives of corporate funded research, students scholarships, campus and research facilities and quality of admissions/ selection criteria, US universities are better and we should follow them. However, from state funded student loans perspective we are doing better.

  • buckster on 02/09/2022 - 07:35

    The poll needs a simple no. Students pay nothing for their degrees in Australia compared to the US. Student debts are massive in the US and some of them being cancelled is a one off.

  • HamWallet on 02/09/2022 - 08:39

    I've still got a large HECs debt and I still hope it's nothing like America.

  • The Wololo Wombat on 02/09/2022 - 12:05

    Nothing paid for by taxation is 'free' - we pay for it collectively via taxes, which affect people in one of three ways:
    * increases in taxes
    * redistribution of money away from other key services (eg, health care)
    * by debt (which shifts the burden to our children)

    We have a system that works great system - 'free' uni that you pay back only when you can afford it… It keeps costs down for society and makes it so that people who DON'T go to university (e.g. tradies) are not paying for the education of those who chose to… but… education is still accessible to everyone!

    Why would you emulate the USA?

    • Jolakot on 03/09/2022 - 14:08

      Funny, my parents got free uni back in the day, paid for through collective taxes. Why isn't it fair to expect the same system?

  • squaredonut on 02/09/2022 - 12:45

    Have you seen how much those US degrees cost, you would be in way more debt. And just writing off the loans isn't permanent it was like someone one off gesture and also it wasn't for the entire loan as well, was up to 20k I think.

    Anyways, I personally believe that we should provide free higher education for our country, you want smart and productive people in our society.

    1) We still need the HSC or whatever to filter out people who think they're going to do it just for fun, i.e. there still needs to be some entrance examination to prove you're not a total dumb ass, even if it means you do it later when you're more mature and you want to pursue higher education

    2) I think the funding should go to courses that would be useful to society, I don't know how we could measure that, but I know for certain there's a lot of uni degrees that are really there just to make money and probably don't help much.

    • SlavOz on 02/09/2022 - 12:50

      Assuming someone is smart just because they're uni educated is like assuming they're healthy just because they've been vaccinated. There's a bit more to it than that.

      Ditto on being productive. The office is full of lazy people who's job it is to take minutes and send emails for the sake of it.

      • helpme on 02/09/2022 - 19:07
        +2

        lol please don't comment on intelligence when your first statement was "America just cancelled a massive wave of student debt, essentially making college free for young students."

        I remember someone saying once the loudest in the room is the weakest/most moronic and that's held true for you it seems from your posts. When will you learn to shut up or will you keep being a the laughing stock of ozbargain?

  • MementoMori on 02/09/2022 - 19:25

    "essentially making college free for young students"

    Well, it's not free, tax payers (and future generations of tax payers) will pay for this.

    Fact is most people in higher education are wasting their time, their money and our money studying useless degrees.

    Also in Australia students only pay for a fraction of the actual cost via HECS/HELP.

    • Jolakot on 03/09/2022 - 14:09

      Great, so make all 'useful' degrees free and it'll sort itself out

  • Guerilla89 on 02/09/2022 - 20:22
    +1

    Education is like health care, as soon as it's no longer being paid for collectively by the government the prices will sky rocket. I'd rather pay taxes to keep university reasonably priced and accessible by the general population. The way that different courses are funded by a tier system is also genius, teaching and nursing being heavily funded makes so much sense for a functioning society.

    Edit: I'm not saying we should forgive student debt or anything like that, perhaps a flat 50% paid by the government so universities are incentivised to put pressure on prices and students can pay back a percentage of their income above minimum wage. Exactly what we were doing before the government decided to break interest rates away from CPI.

    • SlavOz on 03/09/2022 - 15:46
      -1

      soon as it's no longer being paid for collectively by the government the prices will sky rocket.

      Which economy have you been living in? Government subsidising things only makes them more expensive.

      Just took at daycare and the absurd prices charged by doctors.

      • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2022 - 18:25
        +1

        absurd prices charged by doctors

        ah yes, like the US, where medical care isn't subsidised and hundreds to thousands of people definitely aren't bankrupted by medical debt every day!!

        • SlavOz on 03/09/2022 - 22:19

          That's because they don't have taxpayer funded healthcare. If we took out Medicare subsidies, the entire Australian population would also be in massive debt.

          Medical care is expensive regardless, but it's objectively known that when government is happy to pay any price, suppliers have no reason to keep their prices down.

          • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2022 - 23:08

            @SlavOz: so now can you admit you are just arguing for the sake of arguing, probably because you consider yourself some kind of enlightened "free" thinker?

            your first comment you say

            Government subsidising things only makes them more expensive

            and now you say

            If we took out Medicare subsidies, the entire Australian population would also be in massive debt

            so then you agree that government subsidies help to keep things afforable with your second comment, thus completely contradicting your first comment.

            • SlavOz on 03/09/2022 - 23:55

              @[Deactivated]: lol the irony of your user name being Marxist is just so damn fitting since you obviously have no understand of capitalist or free market economics.

              The government subsidises healthcare so the individual doesn't have to pay out of pocket, we all pay through our taxes. But the providers of that healthcare - doctors, scientists, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers of medical equipment, they all increase their prices to take advantage of the fact that there is no price competition. The government will pay anything so naturally the suppliers raise their prices.

              So as a result, prices go up enormously, you're just shielded from ever seeing it because the government does the account part for you. All you do is work (hopefully) and watch 30% of your income disappear.

              • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2022 - 00:05

                @SlavOz: so you're admitting that government subsities help make things such as healthcare affordable.

                on another note, if you're so happy to denounce whatever you think "marxism" is (even though I am obviously not a marxist and am instead a cultural neomarxist per my name), are you willing to denounce the neo-nazism and ustasism we see here in australia?

                • SlavOz on 04/09/2022 - 11:35

                  @[Deactivated]:

                  so you're admitting that government subsities help make things such as healthcare affordable.

                  No, they just make it less painful to pay for because you don't see it come directly out of your pocket. Instead, it comes through taxes, inflation, and cuts to other services. But it's still more expensive and you're still paying for it.

                  are you willing to denounce the neo-nazism and ustasism

                  The day you see me parading a Nazi flag or proudly calling myself a Cultural NeoNazist, sure I'll denounce it. But until then, I have done nothing wrong - certainly not romanticised an ideology responsible for over 100 million deaths. I think it's time you revaluate your choices.

                  • [Deactivated] on 04/09/2022 - 12:42

                    @SlavOz: ah slavvy. so quick to have an opinion and denounce things you don't like and disagree with, and yet you stay awfully neutral when the topic of nazism and ustasism is brought up. intetesting.

                    The day you see me parading a Nazi flag or proudly calling myself a Cultural NeoNazist, sure I'll denounce it

                    …what?

  • Cookiescream on 03/09/2022 - 11:53

    I graduate as an enginner last year. It took me 6 years instead of 4, but by third year i started working in the industry. Half of my hecs is paid and the outstanding will be paid in the next 2 years.

    I would love for my hecs to be cancelled, but i did studied it, so I think it is fair i pay it back.

    In the USA student debt is huge and the interest is what kills it. Also people want to go to the big name colleges, so more debt. A lot of people will be in their 50s before they can pay it back.

  • Herbse on 03/09/2022 - 11:55
    +3

    It's amazing that a thread containing complete rubbish has made it to the front page and is still being replied to

    • monky on 03/09/2022 - 15:47

      Thankfully it's mostly people dunking on OP for their utterly shit takes.

  • SlavOz on 06/09/2022 - 09:36
    -1

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/union-takes-credit-for-biden-…

    In a move that is separate from the widely-publicized $10,000 loan forgiveness but in many ways more radical, the Biden administration used a “waiver” to stop enforcing the rules of an existing program that allows people to have all remaining student loans forgiven after 10 years of working for the government or a nonprofit.

    • AlanHB on 07/09/2022 - 13:42

      Given that you don't really know about the higher education systems in either Australia or the USA, I'll guess you haven't looked into what the "waiver" is either hey.

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