FEE-HELP

FEE-HELP is a loan scheme for eligible domestic students enrolled in fee-paying undergraduate and postgraduate non-research programs, and students enrolled in Bridging Courses for Overseas Trained Professionals (BOTP courses).  

Students in full fee paying places who are Australian citizens or holders of a permanent humanitarian visa are eligible for FEE-HELP.

Students who are New Zealand citizens or holders of a permanent non-humanitarian visa are not eligible for FEE-HELP.

FEE-HELP enables eligible students to obtain a Federal Government loan to pay all or part of their tuition fees. Over their lifetime students may borrow through FEE-HELP an amount up to the FEE-HELP limit to pay their tuition fees. The FEE-HELP limit is indexed each year and is $104,142 for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science, and $83,313 for all other programs in 2009. Under FEE-HELP, the Federal Government pays the loan amount directly to the University. Recipients then repay the loan through the taxation system once income reaches the minimum threshold for compulsory repayment. A loan fee of 20% applies for undergraduate full fee FEE-HELP students.

FEE-HELP is for tuition fees only. It does not cover any administrative or general service charges.

What happens to my FEE-HELP debt?
FEE-HELP debts are added to any existing HECS or HECS-HELP debts to form a single HELP debt. You only begin repaying your loan when your repayment income reaches the threshold amount. This is indexed annually and is $41,595 for the 2008/09 financial year.

For more information, see the FEE-HELP information section (PDF) of the Commonwealth Government Going to Uni website.