Upfront payment & discounts

If you wish to make a full up-front payment or a partial payment you must do so by the census date of the teaching session you are enrolled in.

Upfront payment discount

If you are an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa or a pre-2007 student eligible for HECS-HELP, then you are also entitled to receive a 20% discount amount off your student contribution if you pay the student contribution amount up-front in full. Full details on eligibility for the discount can be found at www.goingtouni.gov.au.

Example for calculating the discount

Jessica is enrolled in four units in her Bachelor of Arts (Languages) degree in Autumn session. All her units are in student contribution band 1, and all have a load value of 0.125 EFTSL/10 credit points each. Jessica's student contribution for Autumn is 0.5 EFTSL x $5,095 = $2547 (with rounding).

Jessica is an Australian citizen, and is entitled to a 20% discount should she pay her full student contribution up-front: $2,544 x 20% = $508.80. Jessica is only required to pay $2035.20 ($2,544–$508.80).

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Partial up-front payment

If you are eligible for HECS-HELP and you make a partial up-front payment of at least $500.00 you are entitled to a discount on the amount you have paid.

Example for calculating discount on partial payment

Jessica makes a partial up-front payment of $800.00 before the census date, and obtains a loan for the rest through HECS-HELP. Jessica is only entitled to a discount on the amount that she pays. This means that her effective payment is $800 x 1.25 = $960. Jessica's HECS-HELP debt for this session would be $2,544–$960 = $1,584.00. Jessica will be required to make repayments on this amount when her income is above the minimum threshold for compulsory repayment.

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Australian permanent residents and New Zealand citizens

Commencing students who are Australian permanent residents and New Zealand citizens are not entitled to a discount or HECS-HELP assistance. The student contribution amount must be paid in full by the census date.

If you are an Australian permanent resident or New Zealand citizen and you become an Australian citizen before census date, you must present your original citizenship certificate to a Student Centre or forward a certified copy of your citizenship certificate to Enrolments and Student Finance, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC NSW 1797. This must be done prior to the census date to be eligible for the discount or HECS-HELP.

Continuing students who are Australian permanent residents are eligible for a discount, if they were eligible for a discount under the pre-2005 eligibility rules.

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Related Links

• Census dates
• Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP)