HECS and Domestic Fees

Commonwealth supported students
Undergraduate Domestic Fee paying students
Postgraduate Domestic Fee paying students
Postgraduate Domestic research students
Census dates
HECS and Fees Associated forms
Contact the HECS and Domestic Fees Office

Domestic students who enrol at the University of Sydney are either Commonwealth supported or domestic fee paying and are required to pay fees or if eligible take out a HECS-HELP/FEE-HELP loan.

Eligibility criteria apply to both the HECS-HELP and FEE-Help loans. For information about higher education in Australia visit the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education Study Assist website.

Commonwealth supported students

All domestic students commencing an undergraduate course of study at the University of Sydney are Commonwealth-supported students, which means the federal government funds part of the costs while you pay a contribution amount. The student contribution amount is calculated at the unit of study level and is based on the student contribution bands and the weight of each unit of study.

All Commonwealth supported students MUST complete and submit a valid Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form on or before the relevant census date; failure to adhere to this legislative requirement will result in the cancellation of their Commonwealth supported place.

If you are an Australian citizen or hold an Australian permanent humanitarian visa, you are eligible for HECS-HELP (the federal government’s Higher Education Loan Program). This means you can choose to either pay your student contribution upfront with a 10 percent discount (‘HECS-HELP discount’), or defer all or part of your contribution to the Australian Taxation Office (HECS-HELP loan).

Students eligible for and opting for a HECS-HELP loan must provide their tax file number (TFN) or a Certificate of application for a TFN on or before the relevant census dates. Students who do not provide their TFN or make the full payment of their student contribution for the semester on or before the census date will also have their enrolment as a Commowealth supported student cancelled.

All Commonwealth supported students are charged the Student Services and Amenities fee (SSA fee) in 2012. This fee is in addition to the student contribution amount for the semester and students are required to pay this fee upfront or obtain a SA-HELP loan, if eligible, prior to the SSA fee payable date.

Undergraduate Domestic Fee paying students

As a result of changes introduced by the Federal Government in 2008 to the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), no commencing undergraduate domestic fee paying places have been offered since 1 January 2009. Under certain circumstances, eligible students may be offered a domestic fee paying place to continue their enrolment.

The calculation of fees for units of study undertaken as part of an undergraduate award course or a non-award program is based on a cost per unit of study.

All undergraduate domestic fee paying students are charged the SSA fee in 2012. This fee is in addition to the tuition fee for the semester and students are required to pay this fee upfront or obtain a SA-HELP loan, if eligible, prior to the SSA fee payable date.

Postgraduate Domestic Fee paying students

Most postgraduate coursework courses offered at the University of Sydney are fee paying (i.e. non Commonwealth supported) and require the payment of tuition fees. A small number of courses are exclusively Commonwealth supported, while there are a few where a Commonwealth supported place can be obtained via direct applications to individual faculties. For information regarding postgraduate Commonwealth supported places, please contact the relevant school or faculty office.

Fees for postgraduate award courses are calculated at the course level. In order to find out tuition fees applicable for your enrolment within a semester or a year, the fee rate for the course should be multiplied by the EFTSL* (or credit point) value for the combined units of study undertaken within the period. The EFTSL (and credit point) value for units of study can be found in the unit of study database.

In addition to the postgraduate tuition fees, all domesitc students are charged the SSA fee in 2012 and students are required to pay this fee upfront or obtain a SA-HELP loan, if eligible, prior to the SSA fee payable date.

For example, a student is enrolled in the Master of Commerce. For Semester 1, the student is enrolled in 2 units of study and each unit is worth 0.125 EFTSL (or 6 credit points), the student is therefore enrolled in a total load of 0.250 EFTSL (12 credit points). The 2011 course fee for a domestic Master of Commerce student is $23,520 for a load of 1 EFTSL (or $490 for 1 credit point). Therefore the fee the student is liable for is:
$23,520 x 0.250 = $5,880 (or $490 x 12 = $5,880)

The 2011 postgraduate domestic course fees are available as a pdf document or an excel spreadsheet.

(*) An EFTSL (Equivalent Full Time Student Load) is a measure of study load a student undertakes. One EFTSL is equivalent to 48 credit points at the University of Sydney and represents a standard annual full time load. All course fee rates presented on the Course Database are for 1 EFTSL.

Postgraduate Domestic research students

Domestic students undertaking a postgraduate research program at the University of Sydney, at Masters or Doctorate level are covered by the Research Training Scheme (RTS) and are exempt from the payment of tuition fees.

RTS students are entitled to a maximum of:

4 years of full time equivalent study for an eligible Doctorate degree by research, and
2 years of full time equivalent study for an eligible Masters degree by research

Those who transfer their research program from another university to the University of Sydney will be required to provide details regarding the consumption of RTS entitlements at the previous university and may be required to pay tuition fees at this University.

All domestic postgraduate research students are charged the SSA fee in 2012 and will be required to pay this fee or obtain a SA-HELP loan, if eligible, on or before the SSA fee payable date.

Census Dates

The University is required to set a census date for each unit of study it offers. The census date is the last day to withdraw from a unit of study without financial or academic penalty. It is also the final day when Commonwealth supported students, and students requesting Commonwealth assistance can submit appropriate Commonwealth assistance forms, and their tax file number (TFN), if deferring their fees. After the census date for all teaching periods:

you become financially liable for any unit of study in which you are enrolled; and
you incur a HELP debt for any units for which you have taken out a HELP loan.

Census dates for sessions on offer at the University of Sydney in 2012.

HECS & Fees Associated Forms

List of University of Sydney Natural and Physical Sciences Courses

The list of University of Sydney Natural and Physical Sciences Courses for 2012 (pdf) is available.