Fees and Charges

Payment of fees
FEE-HELP
Full fee-paying students
Refunds

Your offer of admission letter states what fees you will be liable for:

• student contributions; or
• tuition fees - domestic full-fee; or
• tuition fees - international full-fee.

In addition to these fees, students may also be required to pay a Student Services and Amenities Fee.

Fees and charges are payable as set out in the Cost per Course Table, Tuition Fee Schedules and Student Services and Amenities Fee Schedule, are available from the Fees & Charges website or the Student Contact Centre on 13CQUni (13 27 86). 

The Academic Registrar shall specify dates by which an applicant or a student must complete elements of the admission or enrolment process. Fees listed in the schedule will be payable by an applicant or students where elements of the admission or enrolment process occur after the specified dates.

Student debtors and negative service indicators
A student debtor is defined as one who:

1. fails to pay any fine, fee, charge or debt due to CQUniversity, including the library;
2. fails to repay to the University a student loan in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement.

A Negative Service Indicator (NSI) restricts a student's access to various entitlements to which they would normally have access. The NSI becomes increasingly restrictive the longer the student's account balance remains overdue.

A schedule of NSIs, which the University will apply to student debtors until the student's account is returned to normal credit terms, is published in the Collections Procedures located at http://policy.cqu.edu.au.

In any case in which by reason of special circumstances the charge to be paid, the time when a charge is payable, or any other matter necessary to be determined in order to enable the application of this rule to that case, is not specifically provided for in this rule, the Academic Registrar shall have the power and authority to decide any question necessary to be decided in order to determine the matter.

Payment of fees

Commonwealth supported students and HECS-HELP

You are eligible to be Commonwealth supported if you:

• an Australian citizen and will undertake, in Australia, at least one course of study contributing to your program of study; or
• a New Zealand citizen who will be a resident in Australia for the duration of your course; or
• the holder of a permanent visa, including a permanent humanitarian visa, who will be a resident in Australia for the duration of your course; and
• submit a valid Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form on or before the census date;

Your letter of offer will advise if you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place.

Commonwealth supported students are required to contribute to the cost of their higher education through a student contribution. The Commonwealth Government contributes additional funds, direct to the University, for each Commonwealth supported student in a Commonwealth supported place.

Your student contribution will be calculated each term on the basis of your enrolment. Fee Notices are made available online to all students approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of each term via CQUcentral and the due date will be the term census date or earlier (the due date will be detailed on the Fee Notice). Paper copies of Fee Notices are not issued by the University.

Student contributions are paid either upfront or payment is deferred and the HECS-HELP debt repaid later through the tax system. The options available for paying your student contribution will depend on your citizenship status. If you are eligible, HECS-HELP assistance allows you to pay your student contribution amount through a discount for upfront payments of $500 or more or through a HELP loan for all or part of your student contribution.

Full information about how to pay your student contribution, including information about HECS-HELP, is contained in the Commonwealth Supported Places and HECS-HELP Information booklet .

Important change from 1 January 2010 (Pre-2010)

From 1 January 2010 Education and Nursing courses will be charged at the Band 1 student contribution rate. This change applies to Commonwealth supported students who commence their program on or after 1 January 2010. Students who commenced their program prior to this date and who have not completed their program before the end of 2009 will continue to be charged at the National Priority Band rate.

Generally, you will be considered to be a pre-2010 student if you:

• commenced your program of study before 1 January 2010 and were a Commonwealth supported student for a course in that program; and
• did not complete the program before 31 December 2009, or if you did complete, it was:

• an enabling program undertaken in 2009; or
• a program related to a current honours program; and

• you are undertaking a course in education or nursing.

Important change from 1 January 2013

From 1 January 2013, the maximum student contribution amounts for all students enrolled in mathematics or science courses increased from the National Priority rate to Band 2 student contribution rate (indexed annually).

This means that the maximum student contribution amounts for mathematics and science courses will now be the same for all students, no matter when they commenced their study.

FEE-HELP

FEE-HELP is a loan scheme that assists eligible students to pay their tuition fees. FEE-HELP can cover all or part of a student's tuition fees. Over their lifetime , a student may borrow through FEE-HELP an amount up to the FEE-HELP limit to pay their tuition fees. The limit is indexed each year. For the current limit please refer to the FEE-HELP Information booklet. A 25% loan fee applies to FEE-HELP loans for undergraduate study. The FEE-HELP limit does not include the loan fee.
 

You are entitled to FEE-HELP assistance for a course of study if you are:

• an Australian citizen and will undertake, in Australia, at least one course of study contributing to your program of study; or
• the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa who will be a resident in Australia for the duration of the course; or
• the holder of a permanent visa who is undertaking bridging study for overseas-trained professionals and will be a resident in Australia for the duration of the course; and
• have submitted, on or before the census date, a valid Request for FEE-HELP assistance form for the program of which the course forms a part; and
• have not exceeded the FEE-HELP limit.

Full details about FEE-HELP are available in the FEE-HELP Information booklet available at http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helpfulresources/pages/publications. 

Domestic full fee-paying students

CQUniversity offers places in postgraduate award programs to domestic students for a fee payable direct to the University.

The majority of students commencing postgraduate award programs are required to pay full fees direct to the University. The University offers a limited number of Commonwealth supported places in postgraduate programs. Students should check their letter of offer to confirm if they have been offered a fee paying or Commonwealth supported place.



Enrolled students can check the balance of their account through CQUcentral approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of each termFee Notices are generated for Tuition Fees online through CQUcentral. Paper copies are not issued by the University. The due date for payment is detailed on the Fee Notice.

Please be aware fees are enrolment based so any enrolment change (add or drop) could change the fees due for the term. If you change your enrolment after printing a Fee Notice, you can generate a revised Fee Notice through CQUcentral.

Failure to pay the tuition fees may result in the cancellation of enrolment and/or the imposition of negative service indicators. A schedule of negative services indicators is published in the Collections Procedures located at http://policy.cqu.edu.au . Negative service indicators will remain on the student account until the student pays the overdue debt in full.

Student Services and Amenities Fee
Students may be liable to pay a Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). The SSAF is a compulsory fee to fund and improve services and amenities of a non-academic nature.

Students are charged the SSAF as per the Schedule to a maximum of two terms per academic year. The Student Services and Amenities Fee Schedule can be viewed at http://www.cqu.edu.au/current-student/student-fees/fee-and-charges/student-services-and-amenities-fees.

The fee will show on the Fee Notice available online in CQUcentral. The due date for payment is Census Date of each term (please refer to the Calendar of Principal Dates).

Only students who meet the eligibility criteria can access Government assistance and defer the fee through SA-HELP. For further information about SA-HELP please refer to the SA-HELP Information booklet available at http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helpfulresources/pages/publications.

Please note the SSAF is not refundable in situations where students are approved for Removal of Financial Liability after the Census Date.

International full fee-paying students
CQUniversity offers places in undergraduate and postgraduate award programs to international students on a full fee-paying basis only, with fees payable directly to the University.

All international students enrolled at CQUniversity will have access to Fee Notices through CQUcentral advising the balance of their student account during each term.

Please be aware fees are enrolment based so any enrolment change (add or drop) could change the fees due for the term. If you change your enrolment after printing a Fee Notice, you can generate a revised Fee Notice through CQUcentral.

Failure to pay tuition fees each term may result in the cancellation of enrolment and the imposition of late fees and negative service indicators.

Cancellation of enrolment due to the non-payment of tuition fees will be reported to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and may result in the cancellation of your student visa.

International students requiring further information regarding course fees for full-fee-paying programs should contact the Student Business Centre or Campus Administration at the relevant campus. Students whose enrolment has been cancelled or who drop courses outside the dates advised to drop without financial penalty may still have outstanding financial obligations to CQUniversity (refer to CQUniversity Collections Policy and Procedures)



Payment plans
Failure to meet the obligations of a payment plan may result in the cancellation of enrolment and the imposition of late fees and negative service indicators.

Payment plans may only be offered in certain limited and restricted situations. Refer to CQUniversity's Collections Policy at http://policy.cqu.edu.au for policy details.

Third party contracts
Failure to meet the obligations of a third party contract may result in the cancellation of enrolment, the cancellation of the third party contract and the imposition of negative service indicators.

Student accounts via CQUcentral

Student account details for a term are available via CQUcentral to enrolled students approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of each term. Students should check account balances under the Finances section of CQUcentral when enrolment changes are made. 

Refunds

International students at the Metropolitan Campuses seeking to apply for refunds should contact their respective campus. All other students including domestic full fee-paying should contact the Student Business Centre or refer to the Refund and Excess Payments (Credit Balances) Policy available at CQUniversity's Policy Portal .

Refer to http://policy.cqu.edu.au/ for policy details.