One in four humanities students in Australia will take more than 25 years to fully repay their student loans because of changes to university fees introduced under the former Morrison government, newly released Treasury modelling shows.
The job-ready graduates programme, implemented in 2021, has left almost two-thirds of humanities and creative arts students with debts exceeding $50,000. Treasury found median repayment times for creative arts graduates increased from 14 to 17 years under the scheme, which was designed to steer students towards degrees in science, nursing, education and IT by significantly raising fees for humanities, law and creative arts courses.
Independent senator David Pocock described the findings as deeply concerning and urged the government to reform the scheme urgently. 'The unfair burden of higher student debt in lower-income professions will massively impact graduates’ lives, making it even harder to buy a home, start a family, travel,' he said.
Education minister Jason Clare has repeatedly called the scheme an 'abject failure' in its aim to discourage arts degrees. The government recently passed legislation to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, which will advise Clare on reforms, though critics note the body is not required to consider student contributions or explicitly address the job-ready graduates programme.
Western Sydney University’s vice-chancellor, George Williams, said the modelling 'lays bare the deep unfairness of student fees' and shows systemic problems, with graduates in lower-earning fields carrying debt for much of their lives. He expressed concern that $50,000 arts degrees could persist until 2028 or beyond without a clear timetable for reform.
