In my situation i quit a degree in 2008 and have long since paid off my hecs.
In my experience i left school with an idea of what i wanted to be in life but halfway through the degree i realised a few things. One i didn't like accounting, two University admin has no understanding of the life of full-time working part-time students. I had was in fourth year and still hadnt done first year subjects as they weren't available at night. When it was finally available it got pulled 2 weeks prior to the start of a semester and i was automatically enrolled in a different campus to study during the day (thanks geniuses).
On top of that they were teaching us how to be accountants in 1970. I was working in a chartered firm at the time and what i learnt in the first 3 months there was more than i gained for 3.5 years of part time study.
Dont blame the students for dropping out. Teachers push kids to apply for any course regardless of hsc marks and then use pathways to transfer into their dream degree. On top of that the unis themselves are outdated and teaching useless courses and are more concerned about making money than actually preparing people for the workplace. This is largely in relation to business degrees.
Ive worked and managed people who have gone on to do masters in business and it still adds very little to their ability in the workplace.
