The Federal Government could save more than $1 billion if it recovered outstanding debts from student loans, a new report says.

The Grattan Institute says about 17 per cent of the Government's HELP loans will not be repaid and this year that works out to about $1.1 billion.

The think tank says arts graduates are least likely to repay their student loans, and says many female graduates end up working part-time and do not earn enough to cross the threshold which triggers repayments.

The Grattan Institute's Higher Education Program director Andrew Norton has told the ABC deceased estates could also be targeted.

"Where the issue of deceased estates come in, most of these people are actually in recently affluent households," he said.

"They're the second income earners in the house and so they will have a share in the family household assets which otherwise would eventually go to their children.

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"But a small part [could] go to repay the HELP debt."

Mr Norton also says it is worth pursuing the people who go overseas after their studies and stay away forever, or for a very long time.

"There are various things that could be done. You can use debt collectors to travel overseas and you can match passports to collect when people are in Australia.," he said.

"We think that would be a last resort. What other countries tend to do is that you can let it go for a few years and then take legal action to recover all their money in one lot."

Mr Norton says a major issue is women who work part-time not earning above the repayment threshold for a long enough period to repay their debts.

The ABC has sought a response from Education Minister Christopher Pyne to the report, but has not yet received one.

He said last year the National Commission of Audit would consider the subject, following a report that the Government is owed $26 billion in student debts, of which $6 billion is never expected to be repaid.

Debt collectors not the answer: Students' union

National Union of Students national president Deanna Taylor says collecting debts after death is an interesting idea.

"I would be interested to see what kind of impact that will have on the families of those deceased estates," she said.

Ms Taylor says the union is concerned though about some of the other things in the Grattan Institute report.

"I don't think we should be looking to chase after people like debt collectors and that kind of thing."

First-year University of Technology, Sydney student Rachel Chen is studying a bachelor of science in IT combined with international studies.

It is a four-year course and Ms Chen has a student loan to pay for it.

The repayments start once her income reaches a set threshold.

"When I do think about it, I do get a little bit stressed - hopefully I'll be financially secure by that point and I'll be able to repay my student loans," she said.

"I will pay mine back, definitely. I think that's illegal if you don't."