In a span of only 30 years, the cost of a dental education has gone from zero to anywhere from $60,000 to $430,000. With inflation running hot over the past few years, many graduates are seeing their debt increasing. Fortunately a recent budget decision will provide some relief for those with an outstanding student debt.
The Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) was introduced in 1989 following nearly two decades of free tertiary education where dentists received their dental degree for free courtesy of the taxpayer. Initially students were charged $1,800 per year regardless of the course they studied, so in those early days a dentistry degree cost $9,000. Subsequent changes to the HECS system and the introduction of full-fee paying places has substantially altered the landscape.
The student contribution for a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) is now $12,720 per year (with the government contributing an additional $30,395 - which means these students are heavily subsidised by the taxpayer). However, the cost of a full-fee place has now jumped to over $80,000 at some dental schools, which would see the total cost of study in excess of $430,000.
In contrast, someone embarking on an Arts degree this year would have a student contribution of $16,323 – nearly $4000 more than a dentistry student – and the government adds only another $1,236 dollars – so the Arts student is paying 93% of the cost of their degree.
In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast I discuss the recent changes to HECS indexation, the need for further reform and the impact of increasing student debt on the dental profession. You can listen to the podcast here, and it is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts - don’t forget to follow/subscribe, and share with your friends.
Previous Episodes
This is the 10th episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, and our audience continues to grow. In case you missed it, you can catch up with the previous episodes of the Dental As Anything podcast here.
Episode 1: Mouthwash
Episode 2: Ethics, professionalism and the imagination
Episode 3: Public dental funding lacks teeth, but is change coming?
Episode 4: If in doubt, fill ... dogma, myths and clinical judgement in caries management.
Episode 5: How will artificial intelligence change dentistry?
Episode 6: The ethics of artificial intelligence
Episode 7: Do we have too many dentists?
Episode 8: Dentists – physicians of the mouth, or glorified carpenters?
Episode 9: An army that cannot bite, cannot fight
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