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Fact SheetUpdate March 20046. Higher Education Loan Programme – FEE-HELP & OS-HELPA new suite of loans will be introduced called the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP), which will incorporate the current HECS scheme (with some changes) [see Fact sheet: HECS-HELP] and two new loan schemes: FEE-HELP to help eligible students who are paying full fees in public and eligible private higher education providers; and OS-HELP to help eligible students who wish to study overseas. Fee Paying HELP (FEE-HELP)Students paying full fees for an undergraduate course do not currently have access to an income contingent loan scheme. This is unfair and clearly works against students with reduced financial means. The new FEE-HELP scheme offers all eligible students an income contingent loan facility to pay their undergraduate or postgraduate fees in courses in public or eligible private higher education institutions. Students will be able to access a loan up to the amount of the full tuition fee charged for the course they are undertaking, to a limit of $50,000. Students studying at private higher education institutions only have access to FEE-HELP if the institution is recognised as a higher education provider by the Australian Government. FEE-HELP will encourage lifelong learning and the upgrading and acquisition of new skills. It will also help to remove barriers to national and personal investment in education, training and skills development. Enrolments in undergraduate fee paying courses in both public and private higher education institutions are likely to increase. This will help to reduce the level of unmet demand for higher education places and enable students to access their preferred course or provider, instead of taking up a Commonwealth supported place in a course they do not want. Debts accrued under FEE-HELP will be indexed to the consumer price index (CPI) but are otherwise interest free. A loan fee of 20 per cent will apply to FEE-HELP loans for undergraduate courses of study only. No loan fee applies to a FEE-HELP loan for fee paying postgraduate courses of study, or for units of study that do not form part of a course of study and are undertaken with OLA, or for bridging courses for overseas trained professionals. FEE-HELP will commence in 2005, absorbing the Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme (PELS), Open Learning Deferred Payment Scheme (OLDPS) and Bridging for Overseas-Trained Professionals Loan Scheme (BOTPLS). Current PELS students, and PELS students commencing in 2004, will be able to access FEE-HELP under the eligibility requirements for PELS until the end of 2008 or until they discontinue or complete their current course. However, from 1 January 2005, PELS students will be subject to the $50,000 FEE-HELP limit. Under FEE-HELP, students studying through Open Universities Australia (OLA) may borrow up to the full amount of the tuition fee charged by OLA. Overseas Study HELP (OS-HELP)Current numbers of Australian students studying overseas are low compared with international standards. Expanding Australian students’ experiences of the social, economic and political systems of other countries is crucial in building Australia’s capacity to engage in the international market and establish relationships with people and organisations in other countries. Such skills are invaluable in terms of Australia’s trade, foreign relations and security interests. OS-HELP will assist eligible undergraduate students in Commonwealth supported places at public higher education providers to study abroad for one or two study periods of their degree programme. It will offer students loans of up to $5,000 per six months study period to finance their overseas study. OS-HELP will assist students with travel and living expenses while overseas as the majority of students undertaking formal exchange programmes are exempt from tuition fees. However, OS-HELP will also assist students with tuition fees, if they are not exempt from these. Students will not be eligible to apply for a loan until they have successfully completed the first year of their course and the loan will not cover overseas study undertaken during a final year of a course. OS-HELP loans will attract a 20 per cent loan fee. Both the OS-HELP loan and loan fee will be grouped along with any other HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP debts that a student might have into a single HELP debt. HELP debts are then indexed by movements in the CPI each year to maintain their real value, but are otherwise interest free. In 2005, a total of 5,000 OS-HELP loans (valued at $5,000 each) will be available, increasing to a total of 20,000 loans per year by 2008. Loans will be distributed between eligible higher education providers for allocation to students. Contact DetailsMedia inquiries:Virginia Cook Other inquiries:Fee Paying HELP (FEE-HELP) and Overseas Study HELP (OS-HELP) Email: Backing Australia's Future
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Any comments or
queries should be sent to:
highered@dest.gov.au
Department of Education, Science and Training
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