FEE-HELP

• Australian citizens undertaking at least one subject in Australia
• Permanent humanitarian visa holders living in Australia for the duration of the program
• Permanent visa holders who are enrolled in bridging study for overseas-trained professionals and living in Australia for the duration of the program.
• New Zealand citizens who meet the eligibility requirements. 

A Tax File Number is needed to access the Australian Government's Higher Education Loan Program.

If you have received an offer from Bond University and have your Student Identification Number (SID) you can submit a FEE-HELP application online using your eStudent account as follows:

• Login to eStudent via the Student Portal
• Select FEE-HELP form tab
• Enter details including your tax file number (TFN) and submit the form online. If you have applied for a TFN but have not received it as yet, please upload you application summary and receipt from Australia Post as requested
• DO NOT print the form as it won’t be accepted

Forms must be completed by Friday, Week 2 of the semester of commencement. A new form must be submitted if you change your program of study.

From 1 January 2020, a combined HELP loan limit will replace the FEE-HELP limit and will include FEE-HELP, VET Student Loans, VET FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP. Only HECS-HELP borrowing from 1 January 2020 onwards will count towards a person's HELP limit. Any existing FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP or VET Student Loans that counted towards your FEE-HELP limit would count towards the combined HELP limit.

In 2020 the combined HELP loan limit will be $106,319 for most students. The limit for students in the ^Medical Program will be $152,700.

The following are examples of how the lifetime limit is managed using the 2020 rates:

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Each semester you are emailed a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN). This is emailed within 28 days of the Census date and you have 14 days to advise of any mistakes.

It is important that you keep a record of all CANs that are sent to you, to ensure that you do not exceed the HELP loan limit.

If you’ve used FEE-HELP before (and HECS-HELP after 1 January 2020), it’s your responsibility to make sure you have enough balance left for your new course. Students will be required to submit a CAN statement to Bond outlining all previous tuition fees deferred to FEE-HELP (and HECS-HELP deferred after 1 January 2020).

If you want to check your balance you will require your CHESSN number, which is located in the top right-hand corner of your CAN statement. You can then access your details at the myUniAssist website.

From 1 January 2019, the 25% loan fee was abolished for domestic undergraduate students at Bond University. This only applies to units of study with a census date on or after 1 January 2019.

There is no interest charged on HELP debts. However, once your debt is more than 11 months old it is subject to indexation in line with the Consumer Price Index on 1 June each year.

You will need to start repaying your FEE-HELP loan when your repayment income reaches a certain level, which in 2019-20 is $45,881. The amount you have to repay (commencing at a rate of 1%) is calculated by the tax office each year. You should let your employer know you have a FEE-HELP debt and they can withhold money from your salary to cover your repayments.

Please note graduates’ rate of repayment increases as their annual income increases according to a new threshold schedule. For some people on median incomes this will mean slightly lower repayments. However, there will be a new 10% repayment rate for those with an income greater than $134,573.

The repayment rates for 2019-20 are available on the Study Assist website.

From the 2019- 20 income year, you can top up your HELP balance by making repayments on your loan. Any compulsory or voluntary repayments can be re-borrowed in the future, up to the current HELP loan limit.

If you have withdrawn from a subject or your studies after census date due to special circumstances beyond your control, you may be eligible for a refund of tuition fees deferred through FEE-HELP.

To apply for a refund, you can apply to withdraw without academic and financial penalty by submitting a Withdraw No Penalty application via your eStudent portal.

For your application to be successful, you will need to demonstrate that you were impacted by special circumstances that:

• were beyond your control, that is, not due to your action or inaction
• did not make their full impact upon you until on or after the relevant census date for that subject
• made it impracticable for you to complete the subject during that period

For further information on applying to withdraw without academic and financial penalty, please refer to the Withdrawal from subjects webpage.