Index
Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
HELP options
HELP is an Australian Government student loan scheme to provide eligible students with assistance to pay all or part of their tuition fees. The HELP loans available are as follows:
- HECS-HELP — for eligible students enrolled in Commonwealth supported places (CSP). HECS-HELP loans cover all or part of your student contribution.
- FEE-HELP — for eligible full-fee paying students. FEE-HELP is a loan that covers up to the full amount of your tuition fees. It is available to full-fee paying undergraduate and postgraduate coursework and research students (undergraduate students are charged a 25% loan fee).
- OS-HELP — for eligible Commonwealth supported students who wish to study overseas. This loan is to assist with expenses such as accommodation and travel. Eligible students can receive two OS-HELP loans over their lifetime. Each loan relates to a given six-month period.
- VET FEE-HELP — for eligible TAFE students. VET FEE-HELP loans are provided to meet all, or some, of the costs of tuition incurred by:
- Eligible full-fee paying TAFE students, who enroll in a diploma, advanced diploma, vocational graduate certificate or vocational graduate diploma program; and
- Eligible TAFE students subsidised by the Victorian State Government, who enroll in a diploma or advanced diploma program.
Eligibility
Australian citizens and humanitarian visa holders who will be resident in Australia for the duration of the unit are eligible to apply for HELP loans.
If you are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, you are not eligible to receive a HELP loan. You must pay your student contribution or tuition fees up-front and in full by the census date. No discount is available when you pay up-front.
Ineligible programs
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) has determined that government subsidised students studying vocational graduate certificates and vocational graduate diplomas are not eligible for VET FEE-HELP. However, if you are a fee paying student in these programs you remain eligible for a FEE-HELP loan.
At RMIT University, the affected programs are:
C0027 - Graduate Certificate in Public Art
C0033 - Graduate Certificate in Construction Management
How much can you borrow?
Over your lifetime a FEE-HELP limit applies if you access a FEE-HELP or VET FEE-HELP loan. The FEE-HELP limit in 2012 is $112,134 for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science students and $89,706 for all other students. The FEE-HELP limit applies even if a person has partially or fully repaid their FEE-HELP or VET FEE-HELP debt. The maximum OS-HELP loan amount for OS-HELP loans with a debt incurral date in 2012 is $5,824.
Payment options
The options available for paying your tuition fees or student contribution will depend on your eligibility for a HELP loan. Even if you have an approved loan you have the option to:
- pay the full tuition fee or student contribution up-front (Eligible Commonwealth supported students who make full up-front payments of 90% of the student contribution amount for all of their courses will receive a 10% discount.)
- pay some of the tuition fee or student contribution up-front and request a loan for the remainder of their tuition fees (Eligible Commonwealth supported students who pay part of their student contribution amounts up-front will receive a 10% discount for any payments totaling $500 or more, and obtain a loan for the remainder.)
- request a HELP loan for the full tuition fee or student contribution amount.
Approved loan recipients will effectively have a loan with the Federal Government.
Repaying a HELP loan
The Federal Government pays the tertiary provider, on behalf of the student, the debt the student has incurred for tuition fees/student contribution for each course in which the student is enrolled at the census date.
Students start repaying their HELP debt to the Federal Government through the Australian Taxation system once they reach the minimum income threshold level for repayment. The repayment thresholds are adjusted each year to reflect any changes in average weekly earnings.
In addition to compulsory repayments, students can make voluntary repayments to the Australian Taxation Office at any time and for any amount. If you make a voluntary payment of $500 or more, you will receive a bonus of 5%. This means your account will be credited with an additional 5% of your payment. The bonus is 5% of the payment that you make, not 5% of the outstanding debt.
If you are a permanent visa holder (other than a permanent humanitarian visa holder) or New Zealand citizen who holds a Commonwealth supported place but you fail to make a full upfront payment of your student contribution by the course census date, your enrolment will be cancelled for all courses for the semester.
Costs and charges
There is no application fee for requesting HELP assistance.
A loan fee of 25% applies to FEE-HELP loans for undergraduate courses of study.
There is a loan fee of 20% for VET FEE-HELP, but this applies only to full fee paying students.
Loan fees do not count towards your FEE-HELP limit.
There is no interest charged on a HELP debt. However, debts are indexed annually by the Australian Taxation Office to maintain its real value.
Tax File Number (TFN)
You will be asked to provide your Tax File Number (TFN) when completing and signing your Commonwealth Assistance Form (CAF).
If you are eligible for a HECS-HELP loan but you fail to provide a valid TFN or make a full up-front payment of your student contribution by the course census date, your enrolment will be cancelled for all courses for the semester.
If you are applying for FEE-HELP or VET FEE-HELP and do not provide your TFN by the census date for the course you are seeking assistance with you will not be entitled to a FEE-HELP/VET FEE-HELP loan and will be required to pay your tuition fees up-front to the University.
Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN)
The CAN is an official statement from RMIT outlining the HELP loan or student contribution payment option that you have chosen. Your CAN will be issued online each semester, after the course census date. You will receive a notification email, sent to your RMIT student email account, when a CAN is available to view via Enrolment Online. To view your CAN go to myRMIT at rmit.edu.au/myrmitand click on the link to Enrolment Online.
How to apply
If you are enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place, you will be required to submit a Request for Commonwealth support and HECS form as part of your enrolment. You will need to provide your TFN on your application if you wish to access a HECS-HELP loan. You must complete a Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form even if you are not requesting or are not eligible for HECS-HELP.
Applying for FEE-HELP and VET FEE-HELP is optional. If you wish to access a FEE-HELP or VET FEE-HELP loan you will need to submit a Request for FEE-HELP assistance or Request for VET FEE-HELP assistance form by the census date/s of the course for which you are seeking assistance.
Remission (removal) of debt in special circumstances
If you are Commonwealth supported and you withdraw from a program or course after the census date due to special circumstances, you can apply for remission (removal) of HELPdebt (and your FEE-HELP balance re-credited if applicable). This applies if you have been prevented from completing or withdrawing from a course due to special circumstances. You can apply to have your:
- HELP debt remitted
- FEE-HELP or VET FEE-HELP balance re-credited
- up-front tuition fee payments refunded
- HECS-HELP debt for a course consisting wholly of Work Experience in Industry (WEI) remitted
- upfront payment of a student contribution in respect of a course consisting wholly of WEI refunded.
Definitions of special circumstances are explained in the Application for Remission (Removal) of Debt in Special Circumstances form available from the Student forms web site.
More information
Further information is available in the Information for Commonwealth supported students, FEE-HELP Information and VET FEE-HELP Information booklets available from the Hub, or by checking the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) web site at goingtouni.gov.au.