HELP loans

HECS-HELP

HECS-HELP loans are available to eligible students who have a Commonwealth supported place. They allow you to defer part or all of your tuition fee payments via a loan with the Australian Government.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a HECS-HELP loan, you need to:

• be studying in a Commonwealth supported place
• be an Australian citizen or permanent humanitarian visa holder or New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder, and meet the residency requirements (you must study at least part of your course in Australia)
• be enrolled in each unit/subject at UWA by the Census date

Applying to use HECS-HELP

To apply for a HECS-HELP loan, you’ll need to provide your tax file number (TFN) and submit a Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form via studentConnect.

If you do not provide your TFN by Census and do not pay your fees upfront, this will result in your unit enrolment being cancelled.

How much can I borrow?

From 1 January 2020, a new HELP loan limit came into effect, which includes HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP and Vet Student Loans. Any previous HECS-HELP debts are not included in the HELP loan limit. New HECS-HELP borrowing incurred from 1 January 2020 counts towards the limit. For 2020, the HELP loan limit is $106,319 for most students. The limit for students in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses is $152,700.

Student contribution payment options

Full deferred – HECS-HELP (subject to eligibility)

To obtain a HECS-HELP loan for your student contribution, complete the Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form via studentConnect (under Finance select Commonwealth Assistance form, complete your details and click Submit). You must include your tax file number in the form. Your unpaid student contribution amount as at the census date will be deferred automatically through a HECS-HELP loan, and become a HELP debt.

Partial upfront payment and HECS-HELP (subject to eligibility)

If you pay some but not all of the student contribution amount for your units, this is considered to be a partial upfront payment. Partial upfront payments must be made by the Census date. If you want to make a partial upfront payment, you must provide your TFN on your Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form to obtain a HECS-HELP loan for the unpaid portion of your student contribution. Complete the form via studentConnect (under Finance select Commonwealth Assistance form, complete your details and click Submit).

You can request how you wish your partial payment to be allocated to your tuition fees, by clicking on Received Payments in studentConnect and completing the Allocate payments tab.

Full upfront payment – Available to all Commonwealth supported students

To make a full upfront payment of your student contribution (100 per cent) for all the units you are undertaking, you must make this payment to UWA on or before the census date of your units. If you do not want to have a HECS-HELP loan, you do not need to provide your Tax File Number (TFN) on your Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form. However, it is wise to provide your TFN as a precaution. This will ensure that, if you are unable to make the upfront payment by the Census date, you will be able to obtain a HECS-HELP loan and your enrolment will not be cancelled.

If you do not pay your entire student contribution upfront and have not provided a TFN by the Census date, UWA will cancel your enrolment in that unit.

FEE-HELP

FEE-HELP loans are available to students who are in a full fee-paying place who wish to defer paying all or part of their tuition fees.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a FEE-HELP loan you need to:

• be an Australian citizen or permanent humanitarian visa holder or New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder, and meet the residency requirements; (permanent residents can only get FEE-HELP for approved bridging studies)
• be enrolled in a fee-paying place in an eligible course at UWA by the Census date
• not have already borrowed up to your FEE-HELP limit

Applying to use FEE-HELP

To apply for a FEE-HELP loan, provide your tax file number (TFN) and submit a Request for FEE-HELP form via studentConnect by the Census date. If you do not submit the form and provide your TFN by Census and do not pay your fees upfront, this will result in your unit enrolment being cancelled.

How much can I borrow?

You can borrow up to the FEE-HELP limit to pay your tuition fees. From 1 January 2020, a new combined HELP loan limit came into effect, which includes HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP and Vet Student Loans. Once you begin using FEE-HELP, the amount of FEE-HELP you have left is known as your FEE-HELP balance. Check your FEE-HELP balance on myUniAssist. To check your balance, you need to know your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN). A CHESSN is a unique identifying number, so it is important that you only have one.

SA-HELP

SA-HELP loans are available to students who wish to defer payment of their Student Services and Amenities Fee.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a SA-HELP loan you need to:

• be an Australian citizen or permanent humanitarian visa holder or New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder, and meet the residency requirements
• be enrolled in a higher education course at UWA that offers HELP loans
• submit the Request for SA-HELP form to UWA by the due date on your invoice

Incoming cross-institutional students are not eligible for SA-HELP and cannot defer payment.

Applying to use SA-HELP

To apply for a SA-HELP loan, you need to provide your tax file number (TFN) and submit an SA-HELP Assistance Form via studentConnect before the SSAF invoice due date.

How much can I borrow?

You can defer up to the maximum SSAF amount each year that you are charged by UWA. In 2020, the full-time SSAF rate is $308 per year.

OS-HELP

OS-HELP funding is a Government loan scheme to assist eligible Australian students, enrolled in a Commonwealth-supported place, who wish to undertake an overseas experience as part of their current UWA degree. Visit OS-HELP for more information.