Applications to Pay Tuition Fees by Instalment

All students are required to pay their tuition fees by the due date on their invoice

Where students are unable to pay their fees by the due date and they are in genuine financial hardship they may apply to pay their tuition fees by instalment.

In order to be considered for this option, students must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Must be a fee-paying student enrolled in a University of Adelaide program.
2. Must not be eligible for FEE-HELP.
3. Must have paid all previous term fees.
4. Circumstances must be beyond their control and considered to be short-term.
5. Must lodge an application to Pay Tuition Fees by Instalment on or before the due date specified.

1. Must be a fee-paying student
Only students who are in a fee-paying place with the University of Adelaide will be considered.  This option is not available to the following student groups:

• Commonwealth Supported students
• Non Award students
• Students studying in Singapore or Hong Kong
• Students studying Gastronomy

2.  Must not be eligible for FEE-HELP
Students who are Australian Citizens or holders of Permanent Humanitarian Visas, and who are enrolled in a fee-paying place at the University of Adelaide are eligible to apply to use the Commonwealth Government’s FEE-HELP scheme.  FEE-HELP allows students to borrow from the Commonwealth Government to cover some or all of their tuition.  Students are then required to make repayments to the Commonwealth Government when their income reaches a particular threshold.

The University will not assist students who are eligible for this form of Commonwealth Assistance.

Further information on FEE-HELP is available at www.goingtouni.gov.au.

3.  Must have paid all previous terms fees
In order to enrol students must have paid all of their outstanding tuition.  Students who have been unable to do this may continue to have financial difficulties and this may jeopardise their chances of continued success in their program.  An application to pay tuition fees by instalment will not be considered from a student who has previous terms fees outstanding.

4.  Circumstances must be considered to be short term
Students entering into a contract to pay their tuition fees by instalment must be able to demonstrate that they can pay their tuition by the end of the current semester, eg. Semester 1 fees must be paid by the end of Semester 1.  Students unable to demonstrate this will not be allowed to pay their tuition fees by instalment and should re-consider their financial position.

International students should note that delays accessing funds from their home banking or financial institution is not a satisfactory reason to claim to be in genuine financial hardship.  Student must make appropriate arrangements with any international credit provider in time to allow payments to be made by the relevant invoice due date.

5.  Must lodge an application to Pay Tuition Fees by Instalment on or before the due date specified
All applications must be lodged to the Student Centre on or before the closing date:

14th January 2008 (Summer Semester applications)
11th March 2008 (Semester 1 2008 applications)
11th August 2008 (Semester 2 2008 applications)
8th February 2008 (Trimester 1 2008 applications)
30th May 2008 (Trimester 2 2008 applications)
8th September 2008 (Trimester 3 2008 applications)

Any applications lodged after the due date may not be considered for assessment.

The Application
Students should carefully consider whether they are in genuine financial hardship, and whether they can provide adequate supporting documentation to support their case.

Genuine financial hardship
There are many reasons why students find themselves in financial hardship.  Generally we will consider applications from students whose financial circumstances have changed with little or no warning and as a result they no longer have the financial capacity to pay their fees by the due date.  Applications will not be considered where financial difficulties are expected to be ongoing. 

Students who have negotiated a loan or financial guarantee in order to obtain a student visa to study here in Adelaide are expected to draw on these funds when their invoice is due.  It is not acceptable to simply delay payment in order to minimise personal interest or loan repayments.

Supporting documents
In support of your application you will need to provide:

• Statutory Declaration outlining your financial situation and what has recently changed and
• Your most recent bank statements
  Please note, any application without the above supporting documentation will not be accepted.

For further information on Statutory Declarations please click here.

Extra supporting documentation is encouraged, you may also provide:

• Your lease agreements
• A statement of support from your sponsor or person responsible for your tuition fees
• Any other documents that support your application

Submitting the application
Please lodge your application with the Student Centre; the staff at the Student Centre will check over your application, ensuring the required documentation has been provided.

You can also mail your application to:
Student Finance
Student Administrative Services
The University of Adelaide SA 5005

The outcome
Student Finance will review your application. 

If your application is incomplete or further information is required Student Finance will contact you to request further information.  This may include an interview with a Student Finance officer.

If you have submitted all necessary documentation and your application is acceptable Student Finance will prepare a contract for you to sign.  This contract is a binding legal document and you are required to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this contract.  You must read and understand this document fully before signing.  Do not sign this contract unless you understand it and agree to abide by all of the terms and conditions.

If your application is not approved Student Finance will contact you to advise you of the reasons your application was not approved.

Student Finance will contact you by your student email address within 5 working days of receiving your application.

If your application has not been approved and you would like to discuss the matter further, please contact Student Finance on 8303 5880.

Repayment
After signing a contract with Student Finance you will be required to commence making payments immediately and in accordance with the agreed terms.

Student Finance will monitor your repayments to ensure that you are meeting your agreed commitments.  If you fail to meet the approved payment plan Student Finance will seek to have any future enrolment cancelled and will not allow you to re-enrol until all outstanding fees are paid. 

Failure to meet the agreed commitments will also make you ineligible to apply to pay any future tuition fees by instalment.

 To access the Application to Pay Tuition Fees by Instalment please click here. (pdf 148kB)