Payment of tuition fees or Student Contribution for ABSTUDY Masters and Doctorate study 010-02050060

Tuition fees and/or Student Contributions are payable for units/subjects at the Masters and/or Doctorate level study only.

For some courses, there are incidental costs on top of the student contribution and/or tuition fees:

• Some are significant. For example, course-specific materials, tools, protected clothing and equipment
• These costs are not included as tuition fees or student contribution fees
• The student may be eligible for Additional Incidentals Allowance to help pay them

A student is eligible for assistance to pay their tuition fees or their Student Contribution if during the relevant calendar year they have received at least $1.00 (payment of $1.00 needs to only happen once, each calendar year) of:

• Living Allowance
• ABSTUDY PES, or
• Before 1 January 2022, a Defence Force Income Support-like payment under the Veterans Entitlement Act 1986

Note: where a course is longer than one year in duration, the student must meet eligibility in each calendar year of the course.

Is the student eligible for assistance?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, record details of contact and decision on a Note/DOC. See:
• Online Document Recording (ODR) Resources page for Act references
• Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCS)
• Procedure ends here

A request for payment must be in writing. It must include any one of the following as supporting evidence:

• Before Census date or student has elected for up-front payment options:
• the original Fee Statement/Tax Invoice statement with either a payment due date or receipt(s) showing the student has paid the tuition fees
• Where the ATO has collected the HECS-HELP liability:
• their Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) issued by the education provider, or
• Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) statement from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). To print the statement, students can:
  - open their myGov account
  - log onto the ATO online service

Has the student provided the written request and required supporting evidence?

• Yes:
• Smart Centre telephony staff, create a Fast Note, select Auto Text. Use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Masters/Doctorate Invoice Rec'd > Confirm. Procedure ends here
• go to Step 3
• No:
• Tell the student what documents they need to complete the claim
• Record details on a Note/DOC
• Procedure ends here

Is the student a Commonwealth Supported Student (previously known as Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) placements)?

• Yes, the claim is for a Student Contribution, go to Step 4
• No, the claim is for tuition fees, see Step 1 in Table 2

Check the education provider's website to confirm the census date.

Note: some education providers have different census dates for different courses.

Has the census date passed?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 5

Make an urgent payment request:

• Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Masters/Doctorate Invoice Rec'd > Confirm
• Place the activity on hold for the day after the census date. Reimbursement can only be processed after the census date as a student can request changes to their enrolment up to and including this date

If the census date has:

• passed, see Step 1 in Table 2
• not passed, procedure ends here

The census date for up-front payment determines who is responsible for the collection of the HECS-HELP liability.

The education provider is responsible until the census date.

The day after the census date, the educational provider will either:

• issue the student with a Commonwealth Assistance Notice, or
• cancel the student's enrolment if the student has not either:
• paid the fees
• applied for the HECS-HELP loan by submitting a completed 'Request for Commonwealth Support and HECS-HELP' form and provided their TFN to the education provider

The ATO collects outstanding HECS-HELP liability via the taxation system for students who apply for HECS-HELP assistance.

Where the ATO has collected the HECS-HELP liability, and the student is seeking payment of HECS-HELP liability:

• the student must provide a HELP statement from the ATO
• the statement should display the outstanding HECS-HELP liability for the particular study period

Once a HELP statement from the ATO is provided, payment of the HECS-HELP liability can be made directly to the ATO.

The student will be responsible for any additional fees that may incur due to:

• incorrect nomination, that is, they incorrectly nominated to defer their student contribution, instead of choosing the up-front payment option, or
• lodging their Request for Commonwealth assistance form late

See Step 1 in Table 3.

Some Masters and/or Doctorate courses have lower tertiary levels units/subjects. Students are required to study units/subjects at the lower undergraduate degree level:

• before being able to progress to the higher Masters and/or Doctorate level units/subjects, or
• at the same time as the higher Masters and/or Doctorate level units/subjects

Ensure payment is only made for units and subjects at the required Masters and/or Doctorate level only.

Check the study level using the course outline on the education provider's webpage:

• compare the information with the Tax Invoice and/or CAN
• the name of the subject/unit does not always indicate the level of study
• if unsure, contact the Course Assessment and Liaison Officer (CALO)

Is the course comprised of different study levels?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

Masters and Doctorate students can study extra subjects and units outside of the Masters and/or Doctorate course. These extra subjects must not be paid as they do not count towards the completion of the Masters or Doctorate course.

Compare information with the Tax Invoice and/or CAN with the course outline on the educational provider's website.

Only units at the Masters/Doctorate level are eligible for payment.

Are all of the subjects/units being claimed at the required Masters and/or Doctorate level?

• Yes, payment can be made. Go to Step 3
• No:
• only some of the subjects/units are Masters and Doctorate level. Only the eligible Masters/Doctorate subjects/units are payable. Go to Step 3
• none of the subjects are Masters and/or Doctorate. The student is not eligible for the payment of tuition fees and/or Student Contributions. See Advising verbally of an unfavourable decision (CLK). Record decision on a Note/DOC. Procedure ends here

Students are charged a fee for each subject or unit they are enrolled in on the day immediately following the census date unless the education provider grants an exemption:

Students who repeat a subject or unit of study may be charged for the repeated subject or unit:

• generally, ABSTUDY will only pay for a subject or unit of study once
• in certain circumstances, a subject or unit can be paid for more than once, where the student has been required to repeat the subject/unit to progress through their course of study

To check if the subjects/units being claimed have been paid previously, view the:

• Document List (DL) screen for a DOC recording previous payments
• Supplementary Education Payments (EPSP) screen
• historical scans on the student's record if no details are available

Has the unit or subject been previously paid?

• Yes:
• Contact the student via phone
• Advise that the subject has been paid
• Confirm the reason they are claiming payment again
• Pay the remaining eligible subjects/units
• Go to Step 4
• No:
• Add up the total amount of fees for all eligible Masters and Doctorate level units/subjects studied in that study period to calculate the entitlement
• On the EPSP screen, key the amount in the Amount Paid field
• Go to Step 4

If the student has submitted a:

• Tax Invoice/Receipts/Account Fees Statement confirming the student has paid the fees, the payee is the student
• combination of a Tax Invoice confirming the student has paid an amount and a Tax Invoice/Fees Notice with a Payment Due date, the payees are the student and the education provider
• Tax Invoice/Fees Notice with a Payment Due Date, the payee is the education provider
• Tax Invoice confirming the student has paid an amount and a Commonwealth Assistance Notice, the payees are the student and the ATO
• Commonwealth Assistance Notice, the payee is the ATO

To process the payment, see Step 1 in Table 3.

Students undertaking 2 Masters or Doctorate courses are eligible to receive payment for their tuition fees or Student Contribution fees for both courses.

Due to system limitations, the fees can only be paid if the student receives Living Allowance for at least one entitlement period during the Masters and/or Doctorate course. Living Allowance must have been paid before the payment being issued.

Is the student studying 2 Masters or Doctorate courses at the same time and requires payment of Student Contribution or tuition fees for both courses?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

If the student has accepted a future Student Start-up Loan, these will need to be declined before further coding can be completed:

• Go to the Student start-up loans (!SSLS) screen
• Select a future accepted student up loan
• Select Update Loan Period
• Update loan decision to Declined
• Key the Receipt Date and Source fields. Select Continue
• Repeat steps for all outstanding future accepted SSL
• Finalise the activity

Code the following:

• change the 1st Masters or Doctorate coding from FTS to FTI
• from the Education Course History (EDCH) screen, select the FTS course
• in the following fields:
• Participation Status Event Date, key their Living Allowance Date paid to (DPT)+1
• Participation Status, key 'FTI' (full-time student non-living allowance payments)
• Action, key 'I' to insert the new information

The EDCH screen will now display 2 entries for the same course:

• select the FTI (full-time student non-living allowance payments) entry that was just created
• 'C'orrect the Student Start Date to the same date that was used for the Participation Status Event Date (their Living Allowance DPT+1)
• from the EDCH screen, select the original FTS (full-time student living allowance payments) entry
• 'C'orrect the Student End Date to the day before the Participation Status Event Date of the 'FTI' entry

Change the 2nd Masters or Doctorate course from FTI to FTS:

• select FTI (full-time student non-living allowance payments) for the Masters or Doctorate course which has not had the Tuition fees paid
• in the following fields:
• Participation Status Event Date, key their Living Allowance DPT
• Participation Status, key 'FTS' (full-time student living allowance payments)
• Action, key 'I' to insert the new information

The EDCH screen will now display 2 entries for the same course:

• select the FTS (full-time student living allowance payments) entry that was just created
• 'C'orrect the Student Start Date to the same date that was used for the Participation Status Event Date (their Living Allowance DPT)
• from the EDCH screen, 'S'elect the original FTI (full-time student non-living allowance payments) entry
• 'C'orrect the Student End Date to the day before the PSED date of the 'FTS' entry
• finalise the activity and record details on a DOC

The EDCH displays Masters or Doctorate course eligible for tuition fees or Student Contribution fees to be paid.

Make 2 genuine attempts to contact the customer to advise if they would like to apply for SSL for their second course, they will need to apply through their online channels.

Reimburse the amount of the fees only. Any credit card or surcharges charged to pay for their fees cannot be reimbursed to the student.

Is the payment to be made to the student only?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, all or a portion of payment is to be issued to the ATO or education provider. Go to Step 4

• On the Supplementary Education Payments (EPSP) screen, update:
• Institution, auto-defaults to educational provider
• Event Date, check the Date of Receipt (DOR) of the written application. If Living Allowance or ABY PES:
  - was received for that date, use the DOR
  - not received for that date, use a date which falls within the period of Living Allowance or ABY PES entitlement in the academic year
• Payment Type, key 'HEC' for student contribution and tuition fees (previously known as Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and course fees).
• Amount Claimed, this is an optional display field only. It will not affect assessment or the amount paid
• Amount Paid, key the amount to be paid. This is a mandatory field
• Payee, key 'TPT' (third party)
• Claim Details, to assist the ATO to match the payment with the student, key:
  - Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN)
  located on the Commonwealth Assessment Notice (CAN) issued by the institution, or
  - Tax file number (TFN) located on the student's file or on the HELP notice issued by the ATO
• Frequency, key 'ONE' as this is a one-off entitlement
• Source and DOR fields
• 'S'elect Continue or [Enter] to go to the Payment Instruction Summary (PIPS) screen
• To complete this screen and payments to third parties, see Payment to third parties and institutions for ABSTUDY
• If the amount is over the system arrears limit the payment will reject, see Reissuing a rejected payment
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• Finalise the activity

Add relevant payment information to both the student's record and the ATO/educational provider's record.

• Use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students > ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Masters & Doctorate fees paid > Confirm

The auto-generated letter for the ATO/educational providers appears on their respective History Summary (HS) screen the next day and is printed centrally.

This letter does not include relevant details the ATO/educational provider needs to reconcile the payment:

• on the ATO/educational provider record, issue a Q888 Payment of Tuition Fees or Student Contribution for ABSTUDY - Institution/ATO letter with the relevant reconciliation details
• for payment of tuition or Student Contribution, the letter must contain the student's:
• Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN)
  located on the Commonwealth Assessment Notice (CAN) issued by the institution, or
• Tax File Number (TFN). The ATO-issued Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) notice will display the student's TFN
• for instructions on issuing a Q888 letter, see Creating a Q999 or Q888 letter

A Q888 letter must also be sent to the student.

Issue the student the Q888 Payment of Tuition Fees or Student Contribution for ABSTUDY - Student letter, as it does not auto-generate on the student's record. See Creating a Q999 or Q888 letter.

Is the student seeking reimbursement for a portion on the fees?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, procedure ends here

Reimbursement of tuition fees or Student Contribution costs can be made to the student when the student provides receipts to confirm they have paid the institution. Note: any credit card or surcharges charged to pay for their fees cannot be reimbursed to the student.

• On the EPSP screen, update:
• Institution, auto-defaults to educational provider
• Event Date, check the Date of Receipt (DOR) of the written application.
  If Living Allowance or ABY PES:
  - was received for the DOR, use the DOR
  - not received for the DOR, use a date which falls within the period of Living Allowance or ABY PES entitlement in the academic year
• Payment Type, key 'HEC' for student contribution and tuition fees (previously known as HECS and course fees)
• Amount Claimed, key the amount claimed. This is an optional display field only. It will not affect assessment or the amount paid
• Amount Paid, the actual amount to be paid. This is a mandatory field
• Payee, key 'CUS' (customer)
• Claim Details, key general claim information and include that the amount is reimbursement to the customer
• Frequency, key 'ONE' as this is a one-off entitlement
• Source and DOR
• Select Continue or press [Enter] to go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Finalise the activity.
• Record details on a DOC, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Students > ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > ABSTUDY Masters & Doctorate fees paid > Confirm