Student Loan
The Student Loan can help to finance your study. It's made up of three parts - compulsory fees, course-related costs and living costs. You have to pay a Student Loan back.
On this page:
General Student Loan criteria
To get a Student Loan, you'll need to:
- be a New Zealand citizen; if you're not a New Zealand citizen, you’ll need to:
- be entitled under the Immigration Act 2009 to reside indefinitely in New Zealand and have done so for at least 2 years (i.e. have held a residence class visa for at least 2 years) and
- be ordinarily resident in New Zealand or
- be a refugee or protected person and be entitled under the Immigration Act 2009 to reside indefinitely in New Zealand (i.e. hold a residence class visa)
- sign a contract with the government,
- be enrolled on a Tertiary Education Commission approved course. The course must be full-time (or limited full-time with our approval) or a part-time programme of at least 32 weeks or part-time, part-year and at least 0.25 EFTS (to get a Student Loan for fees only).
Note: Australian citizens and students who are not New Zealand citizens are subject to a two-year stand-down before they can receive a Student Loan.
This means that they will need to have be entitled to live indefinitely in New Zealand (i.e. have held a residence class visa) and have done so for at least two years and be ordinarily resident in New Zealand.
Some people will not need to meet the two-year stand-down. This includes:
- refugees
- anyone who was sponsored into New Zealand by a family member who holds refugee status
- people with protected person status (under the Immigration Act 2009)
- anyone who was sponsored into New Zealand by a family member with protected person status (from 1 January 2012).
Students who studied in 2010 with a Student Loan and don't yet meet the two year requirement may be able to continue to get a Student Loan until they complete their qualification or for a maximum of two years - whichever occurs first.
To continue receiving a Student Loan the student must be studying towards the same qualification that they have received a Student Loan for in 2010.
- For study starting on or after 1 January 2013, all students applying for a new Student Loan will be required to nominate a contact person as a condition of accessing the Student Loan Scheme.
Find out more about nominating a contact person for your Student Loan
- From 7 February 2013, students who have an overdue repayment obligation of $500 or more, which has been overdue for a year or more, will not be entitled to further Student Loans while their repayment obligation remains outstanding.
Find out more about the impact of overdue repayment obligations on Student Loan eligibility
How long you can get a Student Loan for
You need to take out a new loan each time you start a new course.
Remember: you will need to pay back each loan you take out. So only borrow what you need.
There is a life-time limit of 7 Equivalent Full-Time Students (EFTS) for Student Loans.
The life-time limit includes all study that you have had a Student Loan for, from 1 January 2010.
Full-time students generally have study loads of between 0.8 EFTS and 1.2 EFTS for a year. For a full-time student, 7 EFTS is equal to about 7 or 8 years of study. Part-time students use less EFTS each year.
Once you have used any part of the Student Loan, such as living costs, fees or course-related costs, the EFTS for that loan will count towards your 7 EFTS limit.
You can use more than 7 EFTS in some situations including:
- finishing a paper or course of study even if it takes you over the 7 EFTS limit
- up to an additional 1 EFTS to complete post-graduate study
- up to an additional 3 EFTS if you undertake doctoral study.
Generally, you will not be able to receive more than 10 EFTS of Student Loan entitlement including these extensions.
If you withdraw from your course:
- If you withdraw from your course, and receive a full refund of your tuition fees before the end of that course, it is not included in your life-time limit.
- If you withdraw from your course within 30 days of the date it started and receive a partial fee refund, it is not included in your life-time limit.
If you withdraw from part of your course:
If you withdraw from part of your course (eg papers or a semester), the EFTS value of the portion you withdrew from won't be included in your life-time limit.
Situations where you can't get all parts of the Student Loan
If you are studying part-time
If you are studying part-time, part-year (less than 32 weeks) and your course has an EFTS value of 0.25 or more, you can only get the compulsory fees part of the Student Loan.
If you are studying a part-time course of 32 weeks or more, which started before 1 January 2012, you may also be able to get a Student Loan for course-related costs. You won't be able to get a loan for living costs if you're studying part-time, unless you've been approved Limited Full-time status by StudyLink.
If you start a part-time course on or after 1 January 2012, you will only be able to get the compulsory fees part of the Student Loan for that course. Unless you have been approved Limited Full-time status by StudyLink.
If you're aged 55 years or over
From 1 January 2013, if you are aged 55 years and over you will no longer be eligible for living costs or course-related costs. You will only be eligible for the compulsory fees component of the Student Loan.
If you were over 55 as at 19 May 2011, or will reach 55 before 1 January 2013, you will continue to be eligible for all components of the Student Loan for the qualification you were enrolled in on 19 May 2011, until you complete this qualification or until 1 January 2015, whichever is earlier.
Find out more about the changes for students aged 55 years and over
If you're in prison
You can apply for a Student Loan for compulsory fees and course-related costs (and living costs if you're on home detention). Talk to your prison education officer or contact us.
If you get the Training Incentive Allowance
If you get the Training Incentive Allowance, the amount you can get for compulsory fees and course-related costs goes down by the amount of Training Incentive Allowance you get (not including any Training Incentive Allowance you get for childcare, transport or disability-related costs). Your Work and Income Case Manager can tell you more.
Situations where you may not be able to borrow the full amount for your compulsory fees
There may be courses where we can only loan a portion of the fees rather than the full amount charged by your education provider. Please check with your education provider if this is the case as you will need to pay the remaining fees yourself.
If you are currently bankrupt or on a course already paid for by the government
If you are currently bankrupt or 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 able to get a Student Loan.
If you're on a benefit
If you get the Domestic Purposes, Widows or Invalids Benefit, or Emergency Maintenance Allowance from Work and Income, you can only get a Student Loan for compulsory fees and course-related costs. You can't get a loan for living costs.
If you get any kind of benefit, make sure you talk to your Case Manager first if you are thinking of study.
Reapplying for a Student Loan
You need to apply for a Student Loan each time you enrol for a new period of study. Apply early, well before your course starts, even if you're still deciding what you're going to study.
You need to pass at least half of all the EFTS of all your previous study to get a Student Loan again.
If you study overseas
To get a Student Loan when you're studying overseas your study programme must be approved by the Tertiary Education Commission.
Tertiary students must be enrolled at a tertiary education provider in New Zealand.
Secondary students must be studying through a recognised exchange organisation and must have attended a New Zealand secondary school prior* to commencing the exchange programme.
The amount you can get overseas is the same as if you're studying in New Zealand.
*or within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by StudyLink, if a delay in commencement is due to a different secondary school year in the host country.
If you plan to study overseas, you will need to complete an Overseas Study application and you need to complete a Student Loan application.
When you apply online you will get an Overseas Study application form if you need one.
