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

The student must:

• meet the eligibility criteria for the Masters and Doctorate Award, and
• be receiving or have received at least $1.00 of entitlement (during each calendar year they are claiming) of one of the following:
• Living Allowance
• ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Before 1 January 2022, a Defence Force Income Support-like payment under the Veterans Entitlements Act 1986

Note: students receiving a scholarship under the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) are not eligible for ABSTUDY.

ABSTUDY Masters and Doctorate Award students must:

• choose the 'pay up-front' payment option, and
• submit a written request for payment of their tuition fees or their Student Contribution before the census date, (or the date set by the provider if earlier) and attach one of the following:
• the original course Fee Statement/Tax Invoice statement/receipt(s) showing payment
• their Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN), or
• Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) statement from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

Note: the student can still apply for assistance if they have incorrectly nominated to defer their student contribution, instead of choosing the up-front payment option, or has lodged their Request for Commonwealth assistance form late. In such cases, the student is responsible for any fees that may incur due to incorrect nomination or late lodgement.

The entitlement period for the purposes of paying tuition fees or Student Contributions for the ABSTUDY Masters and Doctorate Award:

• commences on the first day of study in the approved course, and
• ceases on the last day of study in the approved course

Payment amount is the:

• actual amount of the tuition fees or Student Contribution amount less any fee scholarship received from the higher education provider
• cost of the Masters and/or Doctorate course fee only. ABSTUDY does not cover associated costs such as administration or amenities fees

ABSTUDY covers the tuition fee or Student Contribution amount of each unit/subject of the Masters and/or Doctorate course undertaken only.

There is no maximum amount.

Commonwealth Supported Courses are where the Commonwealth Government pays some of the course fees with the remainder being payable by the student. Student Contribution fees are the student's share of the fees payable.

Students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported course can apply for a HECS-HELP loan to pay their Student Contribution.

Students not enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported course are charged tuition fees. These students can apply for a FEE-HELP loan to pay the fees.

All students may have to pay for student services and amenities. Students can apply for a SA-HELP loan to pay for services and amenity fees. These charges are not tuition or Student Contribution fees. The student may be reimbursed if they are eligible for ABSTUDY Additional Incidentals Allowance.

Students who study 2 Masters or Doctorate courses at the same time may be eligible for payment of tuition fees or Student Contribution for both courses. In these cases, a systems limitation means Living Allowance needs to be paid for each course for at least one fortnight to allow fees to be issued.

Payment of tuition fees or Student Contribution must contain the student's:

• Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN). It is on the Commonwealth Assistance Notice issued by the Educational provider
• Commonwealth Assistance Notice number, or
• Tax File Number (TFN). It is on the Higher Education Loan Program HELP notice issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

Tuition fees or Student Contributions are normally paid to the ATO or educational provider, not to the student.

The student will be responsible for fees incurred because they did not lodge their request by the census date (or the date set by the provider if earlier).

Late fees incurred because there were delays in processing the payment request by Services Australia, may be paid.

The Census date is the last date a student can drop a unit, subject or course without being required to pay for it. The census date is also the deadline to:

• apply for a HECS-HELP loan
• provide their Tax File Number (TFN) to the education provider
• pay the tuition fee or Student Contribution if they are not deferring payment via a HELP loan

When the Census date passes, the education provider will either:

• issue the student with a Commonwealth Assistance Notice
• cancel the student's enrolment if the student has not:
• paid the fees
• applied for the HECS-HELP loan, by completing a request for Commonwealth Support and HECS-HELP form and provided their TFN

Census dates may vary depending on the education provider or the course.