Course-related costs
The Student Loan is made up of three parts. When you apply for a loan, you choose the parts you want to apply for depending on what you need and what you qualify for. The course-related costs part of a Student Loan helps with costs related to your study. For example, stationery, books, computer equipment, travel or Student Association fees.
On this page:
How much you can borrow for course-related costs
You can borrow up to $1,000 per Student Loan account (usually a 52 week period) for course-related costs.
You no longer need to use a paper form to apply for course related costs. You can apply for your course-related costs online using MyStudyLink.
Please note that if you pay back your course-related costs within a year, you are not entitled to borrow the money again in that same year.
You don't have to claim all your costs at once, just specify when you apply how much you need - you may need to provide evidence of your costs. You can claim the balance at any time up until your course finishes.
Remember: only borrow as much as you need!
Situations where you can't borrow for course-related costs
If you're studying part-time
If you are studying part-time, you can only get the compulsory fees part of the Student Loan.
To get the living costs or course-related costs parts of the Student Loan, you must be studying full-time or limited full-time with our approval.
If you're aged 55 years and over
People aged 55 years and over are no longer eligible for living costs or course-related costs. They are only eligible for the compulsory fees component of the Student Loan.
If you're on a course already paid for by the government
If you're on a course already paid for by the government (eg you're a Youth Guarantee recipient or enrolled in a trades academies or tertiary high school course that is funded as part of the Youth Guarantee programme, or you're on a STAR programme, Foundation Focused Training Opportunity or a Work Focused Training course) you won't be eligible for a Student Loan, including course-related costs.
There are other situations where you may not be eligible for some or all parts of the Student Loan.
How and when payment is made
Course-related costs are paid directly to your bank account. The earliest we can do this is 14 days before your course starts.
Remember, you must be fully enrolled in your course for us to be able to pay any part of your Student Loan.
How to apply
You can apply for your course-related costs online using your MyStudyLink account. You can acess your MyStudyLink using the igovt logon you created.
Using MyStudyLink you're able to:
- apply for course-related costs
- view the status of your course-related costs applications including payment date.
You need to apply for your Student Loan first before you can apply for the course-related costs component.
Watch the below video clip on how to apply for your course-related costs.
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You can download the video here. Size 6.71Mb, 1 minutes 34 seconds.
How much you can get for course-related costs if you get a Training Allowance
The amount you can get for course-related costs goes down by the amount of Training Incentive Allowance you get (not including the Training Incentive Allowance you get for childcare, transport and disability-related costs).
