What is FEE-HELP?
FEE‑HELP is a loan scheme that assists eligible domestic fee paying students to pay all or part of their tuition fees. A FEE-HELP loan does not cover additional study costs such as accommodation, laptops or text books.
The total amount of FEE-HELP that you can borrow is part of your combined HELP loan limit. The combined HELP loan limit is a cap on what you can borrow from the Australian Government to cover the costs of your tuition fees.
Postgraduate fee-paying places
Eligible domestic students can borrow all or part of their tuition fees through FEE-HELP. No loan fee applies to loans for postgraduate studies.
FEE-HELP loans are repaid through the Australian taxation system. If you are eligible for FEE-HELP assistance and would like to obtain a FEE-HELP loan you must complete and submit an online request for FEE-HELP on studentConnect and provide your Tax File Number (TFN) by the census date.
HELP loan limit
From 1 January 2020, a combined HELP loan limit replaced the FEE-HELP limit and includes FEE-HELP, VET Student Loans, VET FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP. Only new HECS-HELP borrowing will count towards a person's HELP limit; however, any existing FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loans that you borrowed before 2020 will be carried over.
HELP loan limits in 2023
For 2023, the HELP loan limit is $113,028 for most students. The limit for students studying medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses leading to initial registration, or eligible aviation courses with census dates in 2023 will be $162,336.
Renewable HELP balance
The renewable HELP balance is your available borrowing capacity for HECS-HELP, FEE HELP, VET FEE HELP and VET Student Loans. It will be your available HELP balance. Your available HELP balance is your HELP loan limit of that given year, minus your HECS-HELP, FEE HELP, VET FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans borrowing. Taking out a loan will reduce your available HELP balance, and making a repayment will increase your available HELP balance.
Further information on HELP loans is available on the Study Assist website.
