Options for paying your student contribution

What are my student contribution payment options as a domestic student?

Answer ID 142 | Last updated on 29/11/2023 03.16 PM

You are required to make a student contribution towards your tuition fees if you are in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP). The payment options available to you are listed below. Not all of these options are available to all students.

Note: You must complete the Request for a Commonwealth supported place and HECS-HELP loan (Commonwealth Assistance) form to confirm your request for a Commonwealth Supported Place, and to indicate how you wish to pay for your fees. Submit the form online via studentConnect by selecting Commonwealth Assistance Form in the Finance menu, completing your details and clicking Submit.

Full up-front payment (available to all Commonwealth supported students)
To make a full up-front payment (100%) of your student contribution for all the units you are undertaking as part of a course of study you must make this payment by the census date for your units.

If you don't intend to obtain a HECS-HELP loan, you are not required to provide your Tax File Number (TFN) on your Request for a Commonwealth supported place and HECS-HELP loan form. However, it is wise to provide your TFN as a precaution. This will ensure that if you are unable to make the up front 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 up front and have not provided a TFN on or before the census date, your provider must cancel your enrolment as a Commonwealth supported student.

Partial up-front payment and HECS-HELP (subject to eligibility)
If you pay less than 100% of the student contribution for the units in which you are enrolled in a particular course of study that have the same census date, this is considered to be a partial up-front payment. Partial up-front payments must be made by the census date. If you want to make a partial up-front payment, you
must provide your TFN on your Request for a Commonwealth supported place and HECS-HELP loan form to obtain a HECS-HELP loan for the unpaid portion of your student contribution, otherwise your enrolment as a Commonwealth supported student in that unit will be cancelled.

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 deferred - HECS-HELP (subject to eligibility)
To obtain a HECS-HELP loan for all or part of your student contribution, you must have included your TFN on your
Request for a Commonwealth supported place and HECS-HELP loan form. As at the census date, your unpaid student contribution amount will be deferred automatically through a HECS-HELP loan, and become a HELP debt.

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