I was quoted at the weekend in a Herald-Sun article about attrition from Victorian universities. The journalist wanted to know how much HELP debt students typically have on drop-out, but unfortunately this data is not regularly published (it should be of course).

But based on some old Grattan analysis, which had actual data to the mid-2010s, the fact that first year is the most common year for attrition, and the strong link between part-time study and attrition, I thought that the typical $$$ figure may not be too high.

That said, average or median HELP debt on dropping out may have increased at a faster rate than indexation in the early 2020s. This is due to students spending more time enrolled before dropping out.

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