Current Students

Fees contacts and Frequently Asked Questions

Your tuition fees explained

FAQs
Terminology
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Understand your UNSW tuition fees and study with confidence

Learn all you need to know about your UNSW tuition fees and payments, understand the terminology and contact us if you still have questions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Your questions about tuition fees answered.

  • Current Liability refers to the balance of your financial liabilities, including tuition fees, the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF), other fees, payment plans and student loans. It does not include Library fines. Your current liability is displayed in myUNSW in the centre column of your myUNSW My Student Profile tab.

    Current Liability in Credit

    If your current liability displays the word ‘credit’, this means that UNSW has received your payment and it will automatically be applied to your next term/semester fees, once your fee statement becomes available.

    Course withdrawal

    If you have been given financial concession for withdrawal from a course, this will be reflected in the balance shown here. If you had a deferred liability under HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP, we will advise the Department of Education and the ATO of the change to your liability.

    Payment plan and student loan statements

    The balance outstanding on your payment plan or student loan is included in the current liability amount, but it is not shown on your fee statement.  Please refer to your payment plan or loan statement for payment details and due dates.

    All other amounts appear on your Fee Statement.

  • If you are eligible to defer your student contribution (tuition fees) to HECS-HELP, you can still make payments towards your student contribution, up until the census date of your enrolment. To assist this, your student contribution will remain as payable up until it is automatically deferred, after the census date.

    You do not have to make a payment if you wish to defer your student contribution to HECS-HELP and have provided your Tax File Number (TFN).  

  • SA-HELP is a separate HELP scheme from FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP, and you must complete a SA-HELP form to defer your Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) charge. Please refer to here for eligibility regarding deferral of the SSAF.

    SSAF is charged in all compulsory Terms/Semesters and carries a corresponding incurral date. Applications for SA-HELP must be received by the incurral date and cannot be applied retrospectively.

    To access the SA-HELP form sign on to myUNSW (My Student Profile tab > My Student Services > Financials > Commonwealth Govt. Forms). If you believe you are eligible for SA-HELP and do not see the form please contact Student Financials at fees@unsw.edu.au.

  • If your employer is contributing to your tuition and fees you must provide them with two pieces of information from myUNSW:

    1. Your Fee Statement, including the Terms & Conditions page with the University ABN
    2. The Australia Post payment slip

    The Australian Taxation Office has advised that the Fee Statement is sufficient for taxation purposes. It has the required University ABN and reference numbers. A Tax invoice is not necessary for claiming tuition fees.

    Your employer can present your Australia Post payment slip at any Australia Post outlet, and make payment by credit card, EFTPOS or cheque.

    A receipt will be issued by Australia Post on payment.

    Note: UNSW does not provide receipts. Receipts are only issued at the time of payment, by the entity receiving the payment. 

  • Once the census date for your course(s) has passed, eligible students who have chosen to defer their fees under HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP or SA-HELP will no longer have the option to pay these upfront to the university. You must make payments directly to the Australian Taxation Office.

    You can find out how to make a voluntary payment towards your accumulated HELP debt with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

    Note: HELP deferrals can take up to six months to be reported against your Tax File Number. 

  • Commonwealth supported students who do not pay their student contribution (tuition fees) by the relevant census date for their enrolment or do not provide a valid personal Tax File Number (TFN) if required will have their enrolment for that census date cancelled. You need to provide your TFN if:

    • you are eligible and want to take out a HECS-HELP loan for all or part of your student contribution, or
    • you are paying your student contribution up-front but, as a safety net, you want to ensure that if you fail to make the payment on or before the census date you can still obtain a HECS-HELP loan.

    To find out if you are eligible to defer your student contribution charges under HECS-HELP, see the Australian Government information on StudyAssist. 

    Commonwealth supported students who are subsequently permitted to be reinstated to the cancelled courses will be charged a reinstatement fee of $250 and will be charged at the domestic fee-paying rate for their enrolment. No Commonwealth assistance will be available for the reinstated enrolment.

    Domestic fee-paying and international fee-paying students who fail to finalise their tuition and related fees by the census date will receive a hold on their account, thereby preventing access to UNSW services.

    UNSW strongly recommends students finalise their payments by the payment due date (found on your myUNSW Fee Statement) to avoid cancellation or incurring penalties on your account.

  • From 15 August 2023, students and payees may be liable for the surcharges applied on credit card/debit card payments at UNSW. This includes card transactions for all tuition fees, Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) payments, graduation fees, as well as for official documentation such as Transcripts and others.

    The surcharge percentage will vary depending on the card issuer, e.g. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc. You will be able to see the surcharge amount at the point of payment. 

    For certain fee payments, there may be alternate payment methods such as BPay, Australia Post or Convera. Read more about alternate payment methods.

  • Tuition Fees and the Student Services & Amenities Fee (SSAF) are GST exempt. Read a full explanation of your Fee Statement here.

  • If you are applying for a HECS-HELP loan you must provide UNSW with your Tax File Number (TFN) before the census date of the relevant teaching period.

    Getting a TFN

    You apply for a TFN at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

    Adding your TFN to your UNSW record

    Add your TFN via the Commonwealth Government Forms Section on myUNSW (My Student Profile > My Student Services > Financials> Commonwealth Govt. Forms).

    1. Scroll down and select Declare/Update your TFN
    2. Enter your TFN and select ‘Update TFN’

  • This information is available on your Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN), which is available on myUNSW within 28 days after the census date for each semester.

    If you believe that your CAN is incorrect in any way, please contact The Nucleus | Student Hub   You have 14 days from the date of the issue of your CAN to contact UNSW to request a check of your notice.  Please note that this time limit is determined by the Department for Education.

    You can view your available HELP balance through the myHELPbalance website. You will need your USI or CHESSN, student ID number and personal details to login to the website.

  • Your UNSW Fee Statement.

    The University of New South Wales (UNSW) recently consulted with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) regarding documentation required for students and employers to meet their obligations when submitting or claiming education expenses on tax returns.

    The ATO requires a document that shows the following, all of which are on your UNSW Fee Statement:

    • Name of the supplier
    • Amount of the expense
    • Nature of the goods or services
    • Date the expense was incurred
    • Date of the document
    • Details identifying the individual student
    • Course information

    If you require an invoice for taxation-related purposes please access your latest Fee Statement for the relevant semester.

  • No - UNSW cannot issue another receipt for your records if you lose the original receipt from the entity that receives your payment.

    You will be presented with a receipt at the time you make a payment, whether displayed on the myUNSW payment confirmation page (for credit card payments), a receipt number by phone (for BPay) or a printed receipt from Australia Post. 

    For payments made through BPay or Australia Post allow up to 72 hours for your payment to reach UNSW. Credit card payments via your myUNSW login are usually credited to your account immediately.

    Following receipt of your payment, the next fee statement generated will show that your payment has been credited to your account, so you can use your fee statement as proof of payment. 

Fees

Student Financials Terminology

Higher education providers use particular terminology to advise students on their financial status. Learn what they mean in the glossary below.

  • The date on which a student's enrolment is taken to be finalised. HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP debts are incurred on census dates. Students must make their up-front payments and submit their request/s for Commonwealth assistance by the census date.

  • This is your unique Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number that can be used to access your Commonwealth assistance information via myUniAssist.

  • Also referred to as your CAN. The CAN Contains information about a student's enrolment and use of Commonwealth assistance each study period.

  • A student who is receiving a tuition subsidy, a HELP loan or a Commonwealth Learning Scholarship.

  • Contributions that the Government makes towards the cost of a Commonwealth supported student's education through the Commonwealth Grant Scheme, resulting in a tuition subsidy.

  • The scheme through which Commonwealth contributions are made.

  • Scholarships to assist students from low socio-economic backgrounds, who are Australian citizens or holders of permanent humanitarian visas, with costs associated with higher education.

  • A higher education place for which the Commonwealth contributes towards the cost of the student's education; students pay a subsidised tuition called the 'student contribution charge'.

  • A student who occupies a Commonwealth supported place.

  • Funds that have been paid into your student account and are not allocated to any charges.

  • The amount you currently owe.

  • Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen or holder of an Australian permanent visa. Domestic students may be offered a place as either a Commonwealth supported student or a fee-paying student.

  • A domestic student who is not Commonwealth supported. Eligible Domestic Fee Paying students may be eligible for FEE-HELP.

  • Equivalent full-time study load. A measure of the study load, for a year, of a student undertaking a program on a full-time basis.

  • A loan scheme to assist eligible domestic fee-paying students to pay their tuition fees. Any amount used under this scheme is recorded with the Australian Taxation Office as a HELP debt.

  • The amount of FEE-HELP a student can use to offset their fee-paying tuition.

  • A loan scheme that records a Commonwealth supported student's student contribution charges against their Tax File Number as a HELP debt that can be repaid once the 'repayment threshold' income is met.

  • An electronic information system that provides students and higher education providers with a range of relevant information, such as the availability and usage of Commonwealth assistance by students and information on programme management reporting.

  • A loan programme to help eligible students pay student contributions (HECS-HELP), tuition fees (FEE-HELP), Student Services & Amenities Fee (SA-HELP) and overseas study expenses (OS-HELP).

  • See Permanent humanitarian visa holder.

  • Any student who is not a domestic student.

  • A fee that applies to all undergraduate FEE-HELP loans.

  • Areas of study for which the Commonwealth offers additional assistance, either through offering additional places, increasing Commonwealth contributions or reducing the maximum student contribution amounts for a place.

  • A cash loan available to eligible students who undertake some of their programs overseas.

  • The maximum loan amount (indexed each year) that a student can receive in a given six-month loan period.

  • A student who holds a permanent visa of a humanitarian subclass as determined by the Australian Government Office for the Department of Home Affairs. A list of permanent humanitarian visa subclasses can be found on the Department of Home Affairs website here: Department of Home Affairs Visa Subclass Listing.

  • One of three bands of disciplinary areas into which a given unit of study will fall. Student contribution bands are used to determine the maximum student contributions for a place.

  • The subsidised tuition that Commonwealth supported students are charged toward the cost of their education.

Still have questions? Just ask

Find who to contact for your tuition fee debt, payment and general enquiries.

  • Student Debt and Payment Enquiries

    For queries relating to a debt from a previous semester
    Accounts Receivable: accounts_receivable@unsw.edu.au

    Sponsored Student Debt & Payment Enquiries

    Accounts Receivable: sponsor.ar@unsw.edu.au

    Study Abroad Student Debt and Payment Enquiries

    For students on short-term exchange or learning abroad: studyabroad@unsw.edu.au

  • The Student Financials Team is here to help all students - including domestic, international and offshore - with any aspect of financials:

    The Nucleus: Student Hub

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