THE COST OF EDUCATION?

Everyone worldwide who completes a bachelor degree at university leaves with what is essentially the same piece of paper. Why is it then that costs on students vary so much between countries?

Let’s break it down and have a look at some government policies, present and future; and see if it is possible to make sense of it all.

1.     1.  Australia

Currently, universities and other tertiary study institutions run based on a government loan system called the HECS – HELP scheme. The Australian government explains the scheme as “both a student loan and a student discount. Eligible students may access a HECS‑HELP loan to pay their student contribution amounts, or receive a 10% discount (known as the HECS-HELP discount) on upfront payments of $500 or more.” Students are not required to pay back their student loans until they begin earning $49,095AUD per year.

In 2014, then Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced a plan for University deregulation which would see funding cut by 20% and Australian universities move to a more American style of payment. Luckily, that plan has since been scrapped by current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with no changes to occur until at least the next federal election.

Students can remain hopeful that when these changes do happen that tertiary education will be available for everyone. Senator Simon Birmingham, who was educated in low socio-economic areas stated, “To those who claim consideration of reform is about ideology or privilege, you are dead wrong. I will only ever champion reforms that achieve both equity and excellence."

2.      2. United States of America

In America it’s a very different story. Going to a public school costs an average of $8,240USD per year and private school is more than triple that at an average cost of $28,500USD per year. University graduate Katie Peskar says that American university students “have to pay per semester or per credit hour. It’s usually an average of $400USD per credit hour and each class is worth anywhere from 3 to 5 credit hours.” That’s before purchasing any books which Katie says can “cost anywhere from $160USD to $400USD depending on the subject.” All these costs must be paid before the class officially begins.

These costs mean that the average public university student leaves school $50,000USD in debt. Despite having a bachelor degree, job aspects are not always optimal, especially for those living in smaller towns. Katie says “now I have a super expensive piece of paper hanging on my wall and I work retail.”

Students are clearly struggling, so what are the presidential candidates planning on doing about it? Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders says that “it’s time to make college tuition free and debt free.” He plans to use six steps to implement this, including making tuition free and public universities and to stop the federal government from making a profit on student loans. With the current system, the government is predicted to make a ridiculous profit of over $110 billion. Republican candidate Donald Trump however, seems to take an almost opposite stance with plans of cuts the department of education and common core. At the South Carolina Tea Party Convention in January 2015, Trump said of the Education department that “you could cut that way, way, way down.” He’s also repeatedly said that he is against the Common Core.

3.      3. Germany

Now for something completely different! Free higher education. Germany offers tuition that is completely free for students regardless of socioeconomic status. As of October 2014, it has even included international students in this. Students also have the option of applying for government loans to assist with living expenses and learning materials. These loans are repaid on a monthly basis before the individual’s 60^th birthday. While studying a Master’s degree does come with tuition fees, they are nowhere near as high as in other countries. On average, German students only spend between 500 and 800 euros per year on accommodation, food and transport expenses.

Every country’s economy and government obviously varies and therefore affects to what extent they are able to spend money on higher education. However, surely the gap should not be this drastic. Undeniably, students in many countries around the world want to learn and are struggling to afford to. It would certainly be interesting to see what would happen if other countries took a leaf out of Germany’s book. Perhaps then that expensive piece of paper would seem more worthwhile.