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Comment by throwawayjava | Hacker News Reader

> ~$19k USD

Was this with room and board? FWIW, there are many college degrees in the USA that are in the $7k/yr range, and many of then were around $20k total prior to the last round of state-level austerity in the USA.

Getting a US college degree for under $20k is still very possible if you a) commute and b) do the first two years at a community college (typically closer to $2k/yr, or $18k-$21k for 2 years cc + 2 years state college).

With a bit more public subsidy (or differently targeted subsidy), many US colleges could be well within the $20k USD range for commuting students. And some courses of study already are.

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Australians tend to stay in the same city for college, so room and board are generally not required. Most students live at home with their parents. All students have access to government assistance in the form of centrelink [1] (though centrelink is a beauracratic pain to get through), and out-of state students are entitled to more.

In terms cost, UNSW is one of the top universities in the country. (EDIT: this is an ambiguous sentence, I am sorry. I mean that UNSW is one of the top universities, and cost is still lower than many US universities) I understand that US college can be done on the cheap, but it's definitely not the norm. You can always find work arounds I'm sure, but I was just emphaising that going to a top uni for this price sans-hassle is very much the norm here.

On top of this, it's important to note that even minimum wage jobs here pay pretty well (the highest by buying power in the world [2]). Thus, even if you are doing university and working part time you can do ok.

[1] https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/subjects/paymen... [2] https://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/top-10-national-mi...

> In terms of cost, UNSW is one of the top universities in the country.

This is certainly the major difference.

For undergraduate studies, the federal government also subsidises classes at standardised rates depending on subject.

So no matter which university you go to you'll be paying the same "Commonwealth supported place" rate for your field of study. For engineering it's $9185/yr for what's usually a 4-year degree. [0]

Postgraduate study is strange because some universities charge full-fee, some offer commonwealth supported places for certain degrees, and some offer CSP as scholarships. My masters degree at UNSW for example was commonwealth supported so I only ended up adding $8k onto my loan for it.

[0] https://www.studyassist.gov.au/help-loans-commonwealth-suppo...

Living in a dorm is not very common in Australia - atleast this was my experience in Sydney. I did not have many friends who lived on campus. Most students commute from home, and among my circle of friends most of us lived with our families.

Agreed. Although as someone who has studied in both the US and Aus (did an exchange semester at Georgia tech), I'd say that living on campus does have some benefits, socially and academically.

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