StudyLink Student Loan fee payment
To pay your fees using a StudyLink Student Loan please apply online at the Studylink website. Once we receive notification from Studylink that you have fully completed the Student Loan application process, your enrolment will be finalised.
Please note: A cancelled or declined Student Loan does not cancel your enrolment at UC or your fee liability.
If you paid by loan at enrolment any additional compulsory tuition fees/refunds will be automatically deducted from or paid into your student loan account.
Please read below to find out about the study eligibility requirements to receive StudyLink assistance.
Study eligibility requirements for your Student Loan to cover your compulsory fees
All tertiary level courses which are approved for Student Loans are assigned an EFTS value. EFTS stands for Equivalent Full-time Student.
The Tertiary Education Commission decides if a course is either full-time or part-time by applying what's called an EFTS value to each course. The EFTS value is a measure of the amount of study or the workload involved in undertaking a particular course. A year of full-time study is usually between 0.8 EFTS and 1.2 EFTS .
You must be studying at least 0.25 EFTS to get a Student Loan for your compulsory course fees only. If you don’t meet this EFTS requirement for your summer school enrolment, then you may be able to add your summer school to your 2011 or 2012 main year loan applications (provided the study duration does not exceed 52 weeks).
Study Eligibility Requirements for Your Student Allowance or Student Loan Living Costs
You need to meet StudyLink’s definition of a full-time student in order to receive a Student Allowance or Student Loan for living costs. To find out if you are full-time you will need to know your study start and end dates to calculate the number of weeks you are studying for. You will also need to know the total EFTS value of the courses that fall within this period of study.
Here is a chart to help you work out whether you meet the full-time study requirements.
| Study length (gross weeks) | EFTS required |
Study length (gross weeks) |
EFTS required |
5 |
0.1250 |
23 |
0.575 |
6 |
0.1500 |
24 |
0.600 |
7 |
0.1750 |
25 |
0.625 |
8 |
0.2000 |
26 |
0.65 |
9 |
0.2250 |
27 |
0.675 |
10 |
0.2500 |
28 |
0.700 |
11 |
0.2750 |
29 |
0.725 |
12-15 |
0.3000 |
30 |
0.75 |
16-19 |
0.4000 |
31 |
0.775 |
20 |
0.5000 |
32-52 |
0.8 |
21 |
0.525 |
Full-time/Full-year thesis students |
1.0 |
22 |
0.55 |
If the total EFTS value of your courses equal or exceed the EFTS required for the number of weeks you are studying (as listed in the table above), then you are full-time. If you have any queries about your full-time status please contact Financial Services on 03 364 2987 x3816 or x7128.
Your course(s) duration needs to be 52 weeks or less to fit under one Student Allowance or Student Loan application. Unless your course is approved by the Tertiary Education Commission for longer (you can check if it is here).
If you are taking more than one course (within a 52 week period) you must use the earliest start date and the latest end date to calculate the duration.
For example:
| Study | Total Duration | Can be covered under one StudyLink application? |
| Main year (21 Feb 2011 - 13 Nov 2011) Summer School (21 Nov 2011 - 5 Feb 2012) |
50 weeks | Yes, the total course duration is not more than 52 weeks |
| Main year (21 Feb 2011 - 13 Nov 2011) Summer School (21 Nov 2011 - 5 Feb 2012) Main Year (13 Feb 2012 - 24 June 2012) |
70 weeks | No, a separate application needs to be made for main year 2012. |
Payments for Student Allowance and Student Loans may continue during study breaks of 3 weeks or less, so these breaks are counted in the duration of your course. You need to take them into account when calculating your course duration and the EFTS required to be ful-time.
If you have a study break of more than 3 weeks you need to advise Financial Services on x3816 or x7128, so that we can report it to StudyLink. Failure to do so may result in StudyLink making an overpayment, which you may have to pay back. This is because you are not entitled to receive the Student Allowance or Student Loan living costs for breaks longer than 3 weeks.
Important Notes:
- There are other eligibility requirements outside of your study details which you must meet to qualify for a loan or an allowance. Please visit StudyLink website to check what you are eligible for.
- For a Student Allowance you must be enrolled full-time under one qualification. If you are studying two or more qualifications during the year, then you cannot add them together to make yourself full-time.
Disclaimer
The information included in this website is meant to be a general guide to the enrolment process. Full information on UC’s General Regulations and Policies can found in the UC Regulations website.