Hi Pynchme,

There are certain professional associations such as the accountants that require an undergraduate degree as a pre-requisite to being admitted as a student. However most of those associations still require you to write their own exams.

For example, my son graduated with a B.Com degree majoring in accountancy. However that did not make him an accountant. He still had to complete the CA course which, he said, was much tougher than his university course.

Most B.Com graduates do NOT go on to do any sort of professional qualification. I am VERY sceptical of the value of a B.Com degree without a subsequent professional qualification.

In my experience one of the more valuable undergraduate degrees is actually an arts degree with an English major from a GOOD university. The ability to write lucid prose gives you a definite competitive edge.

To what extent does the value of a degree depend on the university?

On the face of it, an undergraduate degree from University of Melbourne has a higher cash value than the equivalent degree from, say, Victoria University.

However the entry requirements for Melbourne are much tougher. In other words, ON AVERAGE, Melbourne gets the smarter students. So how much of the better average earnings of Melbourne graduates is due to their innate smarts and how much to the superior instruction they allegedly received at Melbourne?

Bear in mind that a very high proportion of students fail to complete their course. We do need better admission criteria.

After completing uni in 2008, this week I got my very first HELP statement. $23 000 for a science degree is the short answer, and it goes up with the CPI each year, last year was 1.9% being $419. I did have a job out at the mines until the CSA caught on, although there is no mention of the HELP deductions during that time (8% of my gross wages).

I have to accept it has been financially a disaster going to uni for me, and the fact is employers are not interested in mature-aged graduates who really need a decent wage to make ends meet. Its understandable, you can get a smart kid that still lives at home with a degree and pay them peanuts, as long as you promise a bright future.

Personally, its an experience that has rewards other than heaps of money. Often it seems those most critical of uni either havent ever been there to study, or did the first year or so then dropped out.

PTB wrote, "I did have a job out at the mines till the CSA caught on".

Are you referring to the Child Support Agency?

Yes, the C.S.A. is the Child Support Agency. This thread isnt about the CSA, but they are also a branch of the Australian tax office. Effectively, one government department (HELP, used to be called HECS) is asking for heaps of money, and another government department telling me if I ever work I wont get paid for it. I'm just glad I was able to give my (partly reasonable) ex a swag of money to look after my kids, before the child support agency ended that job.

It could be described as an academic concept, the dollar value of a uni degree. Yes, I have a huge bill. No, its not looking good they will ever recover it. Are separated fathers the main defaulters of HELP debts? No. That would be young ladies who have babies and become housewives instead of completing their degrees. But since they have minority status, it wont get much airtime.

The value of a degree is really up to the applicant and depends on
their plans.

It makes sense to take some notice of where the jobs are, when
people decide to study. Yet another arts degree can be rather
meaningless, yet we know that Australia is short of engineers,
doctors, vets, accountants,geologists, nurses and a whole host of other
qualifications, as far too many decide on pot luck about their
future. Perhaps we have just had it too good for too long,
to appreciate what we have.

The great thing is that Australia gives anyone the potential to
do a degree, if they so wish, which should not be taken for granted.
In many places, it is only the rich, who can pay upfront, who
have this opportunity.

So rather then complain about HECS, count yourself fortunate.

You are correct in my opinion Yabby and I wish to add that there are numerous positions for Grads in many capital cities if they choose to earn wages while studying. Also, recruitment agencies snap up university students to fill in short term admin roles during uni holiday periods.

For people able to study in Australia the opportunities are boundless while paying for HECS undertaking relief admin casual work, thereafter obtaining referees for other work to assist HECS fees.