Government Loans for Permanent Resident Students in Australia

June 18, 2008 by Mira

It becomes a challenging affair when you are keen to continue your studies in Australia but your academic dreams may come to a grinding halt due to paucity of funds.

Believe me, it is truly a traumatic experience to go through this stressful period of looking for funds and sponsors that can help you through your further studies. Having gone through this harrowing journey, I thought I might just pen down my findings here so that you guys who are on the look-out for funds for further studies might find some help and guidance.

There is a vigorous competition for the scholarships offered to overseas students by the Australian government. Majority of these scholarships are extended to students undertaking university education especially those pursuing post-graduate study.

One important scheme that comes to my mind is the Endeavour Awards Program which is the brainchild of the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). The aim of this program is to bring in academically excellent students to Australia to pursue short or long-term courses (study or research) in a varied range of subjects.

Many Australian Universities offer loans and scholarships to overseas students who are mainly involved in research or who are pursuing Masters Degree. If you have enrolled yourself in a University that comes under fund granting section of the Higher Education Funding Act, the loan facility is available. The loan covers only the tuition fee charged by the University every semester and does not include the accommodation or other costs of living. You start your repayment process the moment your income level reaches the minimum threshold for mandatory repayment.

Apart from this, there are some loans offered by the University during the course of your term. These loans may be short-term or long-term. The short-term loans are usually availed by students to meet their running financial difficulties or unexpected expenses. With its exclusive student loan funds, the University (only selected ones) tries to help students to tide over sudden financial difficulties.

However, prior to applying for such loans, it is always advised that the students meet the Financial Aid advisor and discuss their financial situation with him and then take the decision of applying for a loan. Strict repayment schedules are laid while offering these loans and failure to meet them will result in serious academic disasters for the students. Your results may be withheld or graduation not allowed. Hence dedicate yourself to the task of repaying these loans prior to availing them.

The Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) is another excellent system by which the Commonwealth Government extends a helping hand to students who wish to pursue their studies further. There are 3 kinds of HELP loan facilities available to students.

HECS-HELP - This loan is offered to eligible students who are supported by the
Commonwealth to defer their Student Contribution Charge. An Australian citizen or holder of a permanent humanitarian visa is eligible for this loan.

FEE-HELP - This loan is given to under-graduate or post-graduate students who have difficulty in paying their fee to the universities. Australian citizen or permanent residents can avail this facility.

OS-HELP - This facility is available to eligible under-graduate Commonwealth student wishing to pursue part of their study overseas.

All the above loans are to be repaid through the taxation system once your income reaches the particular repayment level.

Even though I have guided you through some loan options, I would always advise students to follow money management to avoid sudden monetary pitfalls. Make sincere efforts to track your expenses. Shop in a sensible manner and try to minimize costs wherever possible. This would enable you to be financially strong and even if you avail any loan, the amount of debt can be reduced to a minimum which makes the repayment schedule non-taxing for you.

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