What is FEE-HELP?
FEE-HELP is a government loan given to eligible fee-paying students to help pay part or all of your tuition fees.
FEE-HELP Limit
You can borrow up to the amount of the tuition fee being charged by AMPA for your course. If you have already utilized FEE-HELP for previous studies, it is important to note the FEE-HELP limit (how much you can borrow) is indexed each year.
A loan fee of 25% applies to FEE-HELP loans for undergraduate courses of study. The FEE-HELP limit does not include the loan fee. No loan fee applies to FEE-HELP loans for postgraduate courses.
The Australian Government pays the amount of the loan directly to the student's provider. Students repay their loan through the tax system once their income is above the minimum threshold for compulsory repayment. Compulsory repayments are made when you lodge your tax return and your HELP repayment income is above the minimum threshold, eg. $49,095 in 2012-13. Students are also able to contibute voluntary payments for HELP debts.
FEE-HELP is available to commencing students who are either Australian Citizens or Australian Permanent Residents with a humanitarian visa, and some continuing students. FEE-HELP is not available to students who are not Australian citizens (except for those in possession of a PR humanitarian visa).
Further information on FEE-HELP loans can be found by contacting our office or visiting the Study Assist website.
Tuition Assurance
AMPA has two levels of tuition protection through the Australian Government’s Tuition Protection Service (TPS) that cover FEE-Help and Up Front students.
The TPS safeguards Australia’s reputation as an education destination by supporting registered education providers to understand and meet their obligations to students, and supporting eligible students whose education providers ‘default’. A provider default occurs when an education provider closes, fails to start a course or unit of study, or stops offering a course or unit of study to enrolled students.
The TPS was established in 2012 as an international student tuition protection scheme under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000.
The TPS was expanded in 2020 under the VET Student Loans Act 2016 and the Higher Education Support Act 2003, and in 2021 under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011, to provide tuition protection for specific domestic student cohorts.
The TPS supports four student cohorts enrolled at private education providers:
• international students on student visas
• domestic Vocational Education and Training (VET) students receiving VET Student Loan (VSL) assistance
• domestic higher education students receiving FEE-HELP or HECS-HELP loan assistance
• domestic higher education students who pay their tuition fees up-front.
Following a provider default, the TPS ensures that these students can either:
• complete their studies at another education provider; or
• receive a refund of the tuition fees paid up-front for the affected unit(s) of study; or
• receive a loan re-credit for the loan amount used to pay tuition fees for the affected unit(s) of study.
