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When Gabbi Giles enrolled in a bachelor of screen media program, she pursued the course of her dreams – but there was a catch.

Like many thousands of students across Australia, Giles enrolled in a university humanities course, which became more expensive after the Morrison government’s Job-ready Graduates fee scheme took effect in 2021.

Gabbi Giles says despite being worried about her debt, she would probably choose the same area of study again. Credit: Jason South

The price tag for Giles’ course, along with other subjects such as media and communications, was higher than ever.

Giles has loved her course at Victoria University. She had inspirational teachers and even bagged a job in video editing at the ABC after showing off her skills during a work placement.

The cost of her studies was the one thing she tried not to focus on.

“I have read about it [the changes], and it just kind of made me sad and a bit depressed, so I tried not to think about it,” she said.

Students finishing their undergraduate degrees in 2023 will be the first cohort to complete studies under the fee scheme, which aims to direct students away from courses such as arts and towards industries deemed more in need of graduate workers.

Student contribution costs for areas such as communications and media jumped as much as 117 per cent, while the price of subjects such as mathematics and nursing dropped.

The last time Giles checked her student debt, it was hovering close to $37,000 – a figure expected to edge towards $40,000 as she completes the course this year. It’s a sum she says she’ll have to “just chip away at”.

She was keen on pursuing further study in media, but the thought of adding to her balance has made her reconsider. “It’s a bit too scary to think about going and doing that right now.”

Three years on from the introduction of the Job-ready Graduates scheme, analysis of course data suggests it has not had a huge impact on the decisions students make.

Academics at the University of Melbourne this year analysed the preferences of 725,000 undergraduates who applied for courses in NSW and the ACT between 2004 and 2022, finding that just 1.5 per cent of students chose a field they wouldn’t have selected had it not been for the scheme.

One of the study’s authors, senior research fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Dr Jan Kabátek, said this trend was not surprising because many students had already decided their university path years before the policy came into effect.

The fact Australian students defer their debt under the HECS-HELP loan scheme also probably had an impact, he said.

“HECS is such a powerful force in this context because it is pricing the degrees far into the future. That can dilute the consequences of it – you are not paying immediately.”

Australian National University higher education expert Andrew Norton believes the government should revert to a version of the previous fee structure, where the student contribution was roughly related to the expected future financial benefits.

“That aligns better with the HELP repayment system: people who earn more can repay more quickly,” he said.

Norton said thousands of humanities students affected by the huge fee rises in 2021 would take decades to repay their debt – if they ever do. “That’s not sensible policy.”

The Universities Accord interim report, commissioned by federal Education Minister Jason Clare, said the current fee arrangement risked causing long-term and entrenched damage to higher education.

Clare said the review made it clear the job-ready scheme had not worked, but stopped short of committing to winding back humanities fee rises.

“I have asked the panel to look at the issue of affordability, including the operation of the HELP system and the amounts that students are contributing to the cost of their degrees through the HELP system,” he said.

“I look forward to receiving the accord final report by the end of this year.”

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