Students need to think seriously before racking up massive HECS debts
- Written by Tess Sanders Lazarus
According to Murray Macdonald, CEO of Australia’s leading online real estate course provider, the New South Wales Real Estate Training College (College), students need to think twice before racking up massive HECS debts. There are plenty of great career and study options for school leavers that don’t involve spending lots of money on university degrees.
“A lot of schools encourage their students to go straight into university because perhaps the student didn’t know what they wanted to do or worse, they want to make their statistics to look good,” Mr Macdonald said today.
“Parents also push their kids into university degrees thinking this is the best course of action for their kids because they either didn’t get the opportunity to get a degree themselves or they think that they “will find their way” once at university.
“I believe this is the wrong approach. By doing this, a lot of schools and parents are sending their students into a world of debt. Some students rack up HECS debts of $100k which they are then saddled with for many years. This is no way to start life as a young adult.
“There are plenty of other great career options which students and parents of young adults should be looking at and real estate is one of them.
“For less than $2,000, a student can undertake an online course in real estate and get qualified to work in the sector. Real estate is a big industry and offers a broad range of roles, not just sales.”
According to the latest ABS statistics, jobs in the rental, hire and real estate sector grew by 4.7% from 2015 to 2016, more than double the national average across all industries. Industries such as manufacturing, wholesale trade and arts and recreational services experienced job losses.
“Young job seekers need training and on the job experience. This is very important in the development of a person’s career,” Mr Macdonald added.
“Most young people have no idea what they want to do when they finish school. That’s why so many just go straight to university. They are effectively putting themselves into significant debt before they even enter the workforce.
“I advise young people and parents to look at all options including real estate and other trades. For a small amount of cost on training, young people can get themselves into the workforce learning and developing as people and as professionals.
“By spending time in the workforce, you start to work out where your strengths and interests are. From there you can make a more informed decision about what career you would like to pursue.
“While this approach isn’t going to suit everyone, it is going to help a lot of young people to work out where they want to go career wise without racking up a huge and unnecessary HECS debt.”
The New South Wales Real Estate Training College is Australia’s leading provider of online training for the real estate sector. It provides a broad range of courses and services tailored to the legislative requirements of states and territories including New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and Western Australia. Victoria will be available in the near future.
Courses are ideal for those seeking to enter the industry or increase/maintain existing qualifications within the industry.
“As we are online, all our resources are constantly being updated so that if there are any changes to legislation, our training courses are updated immediately to reflect the changes,” Mr Macdonald added.
“The College has revolutionised the real estate training in Australia and thousands of our students are now enjoying successful and rewarding careers across the sector without massive HECS debts.”
Daily Bulletin
