Eligibility and Application process for FEE-HELP loans

If you are having difficulties paying your tuition fees, you can take out a FEE-HELP loan.

FEE-HELP is a government scheme assisting eligible university students to access a loan to help cover all or part of their tuition fees. It does not cover costs like accommodation, laptops or textbooks.

Eligibility

To get a FEE-HELP loan, you must:

  • be an Australian citizen and study at least part of your course in Australia, or
  • be a New Zealand Special Category visa (SCV) holder or permanent humanitarian visa holder and meet the residency requirements
  • be enrolled in a domestic fee-paying place at Macquarie, and
  • be enrolled in an eligible course of study (program) at Macquarie by the census date, and
  • submit the Request for FEE-HELP form to Macquarie by the census date, and
  • not have already borrowed up to your HELP loan limit.

If you do not satisfy the above criteria you are not eligible for a FEE-HELP loan.

FEE-HELP limit

There is a fixed maximum amount that you can borrow in your lifetime, called the FEE-HELP limit. Once you begin using your HELP loan limit, the amount of HELP you have left to borrow is known as your available 'HELP balance'.

Any amount borrowed becomes part of an accumulated HELP debt which you will be required to repay through the tax system once you meet a certain salary threshold.

Check your FEE-HELP balance

You can view your FEE-HELP balance through the myHELPbalance portal. Do note that this portal will not show your current session usage so please check your Commonwealth Assistance Notices for your latest usage.

Exceeding your limit

If you do exceed your limit, you will be required to pay the excess fees upfront to the University. This may also mean that your account will be sanctioned and there will be restrictions placed on your enrolment and grades.

Apply

To complete an online FEE-HELP form:

  1. Log into your eStudent Account
  2. Click on the 'My Offer' tab or 'My Finances' tab
  3. Open Panel – 'Submit new Commonwealth Assistance Form'
  4. Choose the course you are currently “Admitted” into. If you are not Admitted then choose the most recently “Offered” course.
  5. Select “Enter a new Commonwealth Assistance Form”. The available forms will appear.
  6. Select FEE-HELP form.

Once lodging the appropriate form it should show that the form has been approved within a few seconds at the top of the screen, and you should also see a green tick. If this does not occur, you may have made an error. Check your form for any errors and lodge a new form.

More information

For further information, visit the Government's FEE-HELP page.