Australian Woman Owes $36K in Student Debt For a Degree She Never Completed

If you think student loan debt will leave you alone before you retire, think twice. The story of Jeanette Steendam, 58, from Australia, proves there’s no escape from the loan system. The Typical Student team wants to share this astounding story about student loan system with the readers.

Student Loan Payment for Education You Never Received

Source: smh.com.au

Jeanette Steendam, 58, from Wodonga, Australia, got seriously shocked when she tried to lodge the tax return. As told by smh.com.au, the woman found out she owed the government $36,000 for “a tertiary qualification she’d never received.” The woman was told she had to repay

$2000 right away.

So, how did that happen? The news outlet claims the former vocational student fell prey for Australia’s biggest education rort and is now to deal with the consequences. Student loan scheme is known as VET FEE HELP. Back in the day, the financial scheme provided private colleges with literally unregulated access to government subsidies. And those were made available for every student they enrolled.

Of course, such a scheme had downsides to it, for some colleges would accept as many people as they could! At that, they would even use different tricks like free laptops or other material perks to sign people up for “substandard online courses.” The story told by Ms Steendam, unfortunately, comes as no surprise, as she became one of the victims who didn’t see the catch.  

Falling Victim for Sketchy Financial Scheme

Source: smh.com.au

In 2015, Ms. Steendam enrolled in a double diploma in community services and counseling at Careers Australia. Back then she was a full-time employee at an employment agency in Albury. Ironically enough, she was helping the unemployed citizens to find work through a federal government back-to-work scheme.

Despite having a full-time job, Ms. Steendam was interested in boosting her professional skills, so she thought a diploma would significantly improve her chances for a better career.   She was attracted by the scheme because she had a possibility to study at her own pace. However, three weeks and two units into the course, she became disillusioned with the education she had been pursuing.

She was getting annoying phone calls from the training college instead of taking the course at her own pace. The supervisors were “hassling her to submit the coursework” on a daily basis. Eventually, the woman pulled out of the course. But Careers Australia went on charging Ms. Steendam which resulted in an ongoing debt as she hadn’t withdrawn in writing.

And she wasn’t the only Australian citizen to suffer from this situation! The repayment threshold decreases (from $55,874 to around $45,000) it is being discovered that more Australians owe the government money.