Research
Original data analyses by PlainStudentAid Editorial drawing on PlainStudentAid's Australian Taxation Office repayment-schedule data, Department of Education higher-education statistics, and Services Australia youth-payment rate tables. Every figure on every page below is computed at request time from the underlying datasets, refreshing a page reflects whatever data update has most recently shipped.
How these analyses are built
According to the Australian Taxation Office, compulsory HECS-HELP repayment for the 2025-26 financial year begins once repayment income exceeds $67,000 under the new marginal system (15% from $67,000 to $125,000, 17% to $179,285, then 10% of total income above that). Each analysis below recomputes from that schedule together with the Department of Education's higher-education enrolment release covering all 39 TEQSA-registered providers and more than 250 representative degree programs, so a figure changes only when the upstream dataset does, not on a fixed editorial calendar.
The most recent source refresh reflected here dates to May 2026. We publish the exact derivation, vintage and caveats for every number on our methodology page; these are descriptive analyses of public data, not financial advice.
Most Expensive Degrees by Field, Australian Universities
Live ranking of Commonwealth Supported Place degree programs by indicative HECS-HELP cost across 250+ representative degree × institution combinations.
Higher Education Enrolment by State
Total university enrolment, international share, and average QS rank across the eight Australian states and territories.
HECS-HELP Repayment Band Distribution (FY 2025-26)
A live analysis of the ATO compulsory repayment schedule, band widths, rates, and dollar repayment at each threshold.