Research
Original data analyses by PlainStudentAid 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.
What can you learn from PlainStudentAid research?
What this research covers
PlainStudentAid research ranks Australian higher-education cost and repayment across 39 TEQSA-registered providers and 252 representative degree programs (4 ATO HELP repayment bands for FY 2025-26, starting at $67k).
- 39
- registered universities
- 252
- degree × institution rows
- 4
- HELP repayment bands
- 3
- published HECS studies
Studies below answer one ranking question each from the live ATO / Dept of Education mirror; they are descriptive education-cost statistics, not financial advice or enrolment recommendations.
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.
Download the HECS and university extract cited on this page: hecs-university-statistics.csv (CC BY 4.0).
This page identifies the source records and data vintage used for its figures. Each linked analysis identifies its source release and derives its figures from the ATO HELP schedule, Department of Education statistics or Services Australia payment rates rather than editor-entered values. Nothing here is financial advice; for any decision that matters, follow the primary source and consult a qualified professional (see our disclaimer). See also our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of FY 2025-26.