Bruce Chapman

Bruce James Chapman (born 16 September 1951) is an Australian economist and academic known for being the founder or architect of the HECS system. HECS is the Higher Education Contribution Scheme loans system. He is currently a professor at the College of Business and Economics, Australian National University. In 2001, he became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), "for service to the development of Australian economic, labour market and social policy". In 2017, Professor Chapman was appointed the inaugural Sir Roland Wilson Chair of Economics. Education He was awarded a Bachelor of Economics at the Australian National University for his undergraduate degree. He earned his PhD in Economics from Yale University. Career In 1989, the Australian Federal Government led by Bob Hawke introduced the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS), which was first intimated by Professor Murray Wells (The Australian, 15 April 1987, page 15). Bruce Chapman further developed the policy with the support of the then Education Minister John Dawkins (see Dawkins Revolution). He was also an advisor to the Keating government in 94–96. In the original HECS, an $1,800 fee was charged to all university students, and the Commonwealth Government footed the bill. It was a first of its kind loan scheme that used the tax system to collect repayments. The scheme has influenced other countries like the United Kingdom, Ghana, New Zealand and Hungary to introduce their own model of a higher education contribution scheme.