HECS...HELP!! - UNDERSTANDING YOUR HECS DEBT
HECS-HELP is a blessing and a curse at the same time. If you are an Australian citizen and are attending university, you get to personally experience one of the leading student benefits schemes in the world.
At some point in the not too distant future, however, you have to come to accept the responsibility that you owe a tonne of coin to the Australian Government. Knowing the value will only allow you to become more prepared and set up a plan to quickly and efficiently rid the dangling dark cloud of HECS from existence in your life.
Like anything a little research will go a long way in bringing you out of the naive shadows of HECS. It's probably applicable to first mention that there is an entire information booklet dedicated to this, but hey what would be the point of this article?
We have saved you the time of drowning in 40 pages so you can quickly get back to binging your favourite Netflix series. Here are six quick fire facts that are sure to establish your basic understanding of HECS.
Six Quick Fire Facts
- Any Australian Citizen is eligible for a HECS tertiary education loan.
- No application fee is associated with the HECS Scheme.
- Failure is not an option! You will still be charged each time you undertake a subject.
- There is no limit on what you can borrow.
- You are required to make a compulsory repayment if your income is over $54,126.
- Don’t panic, there is no real interest.
Knowledge is Power
The best thing you can do for yourself is to at least come to terms with the actual amount you owe to the Australian government. Some individuals have a mindset that what they don't know wont kill them. In the case of HECS, knowledge can most certainly mean power!
Getting a grip of your finances is the first step in being ushered into adulthood. So before you invest in loans and drown in debts from your inaugural european holiday after graduation, make sure you have a basic understanding of your HECS figure. This can be vital in letting you plan out your future annual spending as well as keeping you more in the loop.
HECS is the only loan in your lifetime where you won't have the debt collector knocking at your door. It’s all sunshines and daisies, however, until you're questioning why five per cent of your annual salary income is missing. As the executive of your own personal finances, it is vital that you always have the upper hand.
Keeping Track
HECS should never be a lingering dark cloud lurking above your finances. Now that this has been established, knowing where to go to keep track of this study scheme is just as important. The Australian government have a dedicated agency and online HECS database called myUniassist.
The Department of Education and Training has made it super simple for even the most carefree of students to track their student entitlements. Logging onto this will require your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN), which is printed on your Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN). With a little bit of time spent digging through your virtual files, finding this relevant and necessary information to access this database will be easy as pie.
Accessing this information is crucial as it will help you keep track of how much you have borrowed under the HELP scheme. Knowing this now rather than later will make it more efficient for you to also alleviate any inconsistencies with what you have studied and fix problems that may arise.
Like everything in this world the HECS scheme is far from perfect. So being active in understanding it more will enable you to determine if this system has any errors logged within your file. Nobody wants to be charged extra for something let alone for a tertiary course.
Australia is a pioneer in the world for providing an efficient system that allows for the financial support of tertiary students. Without this national scheme many individuals would not have the ability to undertake a journey of personal and professional growth. Of course, there is a plethora of answers for every question relating to HECS but we have essentially brought you out of the shadows and into the light.
WORDS BY JOSEPH RAGUSA
Featured Image: Hijacked.com.au
