In short
A 4-year Bachelor of Education costs about $18,952 in 2026 student contributions, or about $19,763 of HECS-HELP debt by graduation once indexation is added. Nothing is paid upfront. The Prac Payment ($338.60 a week) and scholarships offset part of it, and a NSW graduate on $92,882 typically repays the debt in about 5 years.
How to use the cost to become a teacher
- 1
Choose your degree and study load
Pick a 4-year Bachelor of Education, a 2-year Master of Teaching or a 1-year Graduate Diploma, then full-time, 75% or half-time. Part-time study stretches the course and the years of indexation.
- 2
Check the cost assumptions
The student contribution defaults to $4,738 a year (the 2026 education band) and HELP indexation to 2.8%. Add your other study costs: books, a laptop, travel to placements and checks.
- 3
Add payments and scholarships
Include the Commonwealth Prac Payment for your placement weeks, a Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship if you have one, and any state scholarship as a total.
- 4
Count lost earnings if you're changing career
Turn on the earnings you'll give up while studying to see the full cost and how many years of teaching it takes to break even.
- 5
Pick where you'll teach
Your state sets the graduate salary, and that drives how fast the HELP debt is repaid in the table.
What a teaching degree costs in 2026
If you're a domestic student in a Commonwealth supported place, you pay a student contribution, and education units sit in the lowest band: about $4,738 per full-time year in 2026. You can defer the whole amount on HECS-HELP, so you pay nothing upfront. The debt is indexed each 1 June (2.8% in 2026) and repaid through the tax system once your income passes $69,528 in 2026–27.
Calculator defaults. Placement weeks are typical figures; your course sets the real number. Indexation is applied once a year to earlier years' debt, and future rates will differ. Full-fee places cost far more.
The calculator also adds your other costs. At the default $800 a year, a Bachelor of Education comes to $22,152 in total. Take off a Prac Payment of $5,418 and the net cost is about $16,734. A Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship ($10,000 a full-time year, capped at $40,000 for an undergraduate degree or $20,000 postgraduate) can cover more than the whole HELP debt, though it comes with a commitment to teach in government schools after you graduate.
How fast a teacher's salary repays HELP
Bachelor of Education graduate teaching in NSW
- HELP debt at graduation
- about $19,763
- Year 1 salary (Step 1, from 9 Oct 2026)
- $92,882
- Compulsory HELP repayment in year 1
- $3,503
- Take-home in year 1 after tax, Medicare and HELP
- $69,137
- Repayments in years 2 to 4 (Steps 2 to 4)
- $4,554, $5,194, $5,834
Site's 2026–27 tax engine and HELP rates: 15 cents per dollar of income above $69,528. Assumes full-time work, one step a year, 2.8% indexation and no voluntary repayments.
In 2026–27 HELP repayments are marginal: you repay 15 cents of each dollar above $69,528, not a percentage of your whole income. Every state's graduate salary is above the threshold, so repayments start in your first year. See HECS-HELP for teachers for the full rules, and HECS debt relief for remote teachers if you'd consider four years in a very remote school, which can reduce your teaching-degree HELP debt.
When a career change to teaching pays off
With lost earnings switched on, the calculator compares your take-home as a teacher, stepping up the scale each year, with what you'd keep in your current job. Take a Master of Teaching student giving up $70,000 a year who then teaches in NSW. The net cost is about $147,000. A NSW graduate takes home $72,640 against $57,080 on $70,000, and the gap widens every year up the scale. On these numbers the change pays for itself in about 6 years of teaching.
Paid pathways change the sum entirely. Employment-based programs and some state scholarships pay you while you train. Read employment-based teaching pathways, career change to teaching and paid to study teaching before you enrol.
Payments and scholarships you can claim
- Commonwealth Prac Payment: $338.60 a week in 2026 for eligible students on mandatory placements. It's means-tested and taxable, though at student incomes little or no tax is usually due.
- Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships: $10,000 a full-time year, up to $40,000 undergraduate or $20,000 postgraduate, plus $2,000 for a final placement in a remote school.
- NSW: the Teacher Education Scholarship pays up to $7,500 a year while you study plus a $6,000 appointment allowance; teach.Rural adds up to $50,000 in course fees. See NSW teacher education scholarships.
- Victoria: Teach the Future Fellowships of $10,000 for STEM, EAL and special education degrees. See Victoria teaching scholarships.
For the line-by-line breakdown, read what a teaching degree costs and Master of Teaching cost. The HECS-HELP calculator models extra repayments once you're teaching.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to become a teacher in Australia?
Do I have to pay for a teaching degree upfront?
How long does it take a teacher to pay off HECS?
Is the Prac Payment taxable?
How much is the Commonwealth Prac Payment?
Is a Master of Teaching cheaper than a Bachelor of Education?
Can a scholarship cover my whole teaching degree?
Guides that go with this tool
Costs
What a teaching degree costs in 2026: HECS-HELP, hidden costs and the money that offsets them
The real cost of becoming a teacher: the 2026 education HECS band, total degree debt, placement and registration costs, repayments and the payments that cut the bill.
Costs
What a Master of Teaching really costs in 2026
Real 2026 university fees for a Master of Teaching in a CSP, full-fee and international place, plus placement costs, offsets and how fast a teacher's salary repays it.
Student money
Commonwealth Prac Payment for teaching students: rate, eligibility and how to apply
What the $338.60-a-week Commonwealth Prac Payment is, who qualifies, how to apply through your university and what a full degree's placements are worth.