University of Newcastle students who take out a loan will be paying it back a lot sooner under an overhaul of funding to be announced in next week's federal budget.
Under the changes, students will be forced to start repaying their HECS debt when their income reaches $42,000 in a financial year instead of the current $54,000.
"This is around the same amount as minimum wage when you include the casual loading so that's asking students, so asking graduates, to pay back thousands of dollars of debt when they're barely meeting minimum wage," said National Union of Students President Sophie Johnston.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced the increase in fees with a cut to university funding.
The Minister says the government will keep to their word and not make students pay a cent upfront.
The increases in student fees will range from $2,000 - $3,600 on average over a four-year course.
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| Simon Birmingham Image theaustralian.com.au |