Entitlements and Contributions

Student Learning Entitlement (SLE)

There are three different types of Student Learning Entitlement.

Ordinary SLE

The equivalent of seven years of full-time study for all:

• Australian citizens
• New Zealand citizens, or
• holders of permanent visas.

Additional SLE

An extra entitlement to ensure you have enough SLE to complete at least one academic program as a Commonwealth supported student. Any additional SLE you are granted for an academic program can only be used for that particular program.
You will be allocated additional SLE for a Commonwealth supported place if your academic program is:

• an undergraduate program longer than six years (equivalent full-time)
• an honours program
• a graduate entry bachelor degree, or
• a postgraduate program.

Lifelong SLE

To update your qualifications or retrain, you will begin accruing lifelong SLE:

• in 2012, if you were 20 years or older on 1 January 2005, or
• on 1 January of the year of your 27th birthday if you were less than 20 years old on 1 January 2005.

Lifelong SLE will accrue at the rate of one Equivalent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL) on 1 January of the first year of accrual and 0.25 EFTSL on 1 January every year thereafter.

For more information, go to the Commonwealth Government's Going to Uni website.

Student Contributions

The 2010 Student Contribution (SC) for University of Adelaide are based on the following;

Transitional arrangements for continuing students (based on the year of commencement of your program) apply for units of study in Accounting, Administration, Economics, Commerce, Education, Nursing, Mathematics, Statistics and Science. Further information regarding transitional arrangements is explained in the Information for Commonwealth Supported Students booklet and on the Commonwealth Government’s Going To Uni website.

Calculating your Student Contribution

How much you pay depends on how many courses you are enrolled in, the unit value of those courses and under which band your courses fall. To find out the amount for your courses, search for it on Course Planner.

If you are not sure how to calculate how much SC you should be paying, the Information for Commonwealth Supported Students booklet contains detailed instructions and examples of how to calculate your SC. This booklet is obtainable from the Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink, the University's Student Centre or can be downloaded from the Commonwealth Government’s Going to Uni website.

Cross-institutional students (i.e. students enrolled in an award program in one institution but studying a course or courses in another institution that will count towards that award) must pay a proportional Student Contribution at each institution.

Reducing your Student Contribution

If you are an Australian Citizen or holder of a Permanent Humanitarian Visa you are entitled to receive:

• a 20% discount on your Student Contribution if you pay all your Student Contribution up-front on or before the census date, or
• if you make a partial up-front payment of $500 or more of your Student Contribution, a 20% discount on the amount you pay on or before the census date. For example, a partial payment of $500 will attract a discount of $125.

If you make a partial payment, the balance of your Student Contribution amount must be covered by a HECS-HELP loan.

New Zealand citizens and holders of a Permanent Visa that is not a Permanent Humanitarian Visa are not entitled to these discounts. For more information on visas visit the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.

HECS-HELP
Deferring payment of the Student Contribution

Eligible Commonwealth-supported students are able to defer payment of their Student Contribution by obtaining a Commonwealth Government HECS-HELP loan.

Repayments of HECS-HELP loans are compulsory when your income is above the threshold set by the Government, and are paid through the Australian taxation system. The income threshold can be found on the Commonwealth Government’s Going to Uni website.

Only domestic students who are Australian citizens or holders of a permanent humanitarian visa are eligible for HECS-HELP.

The application form for HECS-HELP - Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP – is available as part of the University’s online enrolment process. Hard copies are also available from the Student Centre.

If you are a cross-institutional student (i.e. a student enrolled in an award program in one institution but studying a course or courses in another institution that will count towards that award), and wish to access HECS-HELP at both institutions, you must complete a Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form for each institution in which you are enrolled.

If you are a New Zealand citizen, or the holder of a Permanent Visa that is not a Permanent Humanitarian Visa, you must pay 100% of your Student Contribution for all the courses on or before the census date. You are not eligible for any HECS-HELP assistance and are not allowed to change your payment option unless you become an Australian citizen.

Commonwealth Assistance Notice

After the census date, the University will send you a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) for the courses you are enrolled in as a Commonwealth supported student. The CAN will be provided to you electronically and you will be advised via your University of Adelaide email account when the CAN is available. The CAN will show your:

• Student Learning Entitlement usage
• Student Contributions
• HECS-HELP assistance
• OS-HELP assistance (where relevant).

The CAN will include any changes you have made to your study program on or before the census date. If you think the information on the CAN is incorrect, you should contact Student Finance, in writing, within 14 days.

You can also monitor and check these details through myUniAssist, operated by the Commonwealth Government.