SA-HELP loan scheme
SA-HELP is a loan scheme to help you pay your student services and amenities fee.
You can choose to:
- pay nothing up-front and take out a loan that covers all your fee
- pay part of your fees up-front and take out a loan for the rest
- pay your full fee for the semester up-front.
Am I eligible for SA-HELP?
To be eligible for SA-HELP, you need to be enrolled in a QUT undergraduate or postgraduate coursework course and be:
- an Australian citizen
- an Australian permanent humanitarian visa holder.
You don't have need to have taken out any other kind of HELP loan (e.g. HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP) to be eligible for SA-HELP.
How do I apply?
You can apply for SA-HELP once you've applied for a course, been offered a place and accepted your offer. You only need to apply for SA-HELP once for each course.
Repaying your SA-HELP debt
If you choose to take a loan for any part of your student services and amenities fees, the amount will be added to your accumulated HELP debt (with amounts from any other HELP loans e.g. HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP).
You'll only need to start repaying your HELP debt when your income reaches a certain level. As your income increases you pay a bigger percentage towards your HELP debt.
The amount you have to repay is calculated by the Tax Office each year. You should let your employer know you have a HECS-HELP debt and they can withhold money from your pay to cover your repayments.
You can choose to make extra repayments of any amount at any time. You get a discount on payments over a certain amount.
HELP loans are interest-free, but your debt will increase each year as it's adjusted in line with changes in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
