OS-HELP Loans
The University offers significant financial assistance to its students for travel overseas as exchange students or for study abroad. In the event that you require further funding, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) provides loans to assist Australian students undertake some of their study towards their undergraduate degree overseas. The scheme is known as OS-HELP.
| Number | Application Process |
| Loan Amounts | Timeline |
| HECS | Payment |
| Eligibility | Withdrawing your loan |
| Second Loans | Deferring |
| Selection | More information |
Number
Dependent upon government funding.
Loan Amounts
Amount students can borrow |
Interest* |
|---|---|
| up to $5410 in 2009 | 20% |
up to $5523 in 2010 |
no interest charged from loans paid after 1 Jan 2010 |
| eg. If you borrow $5,000 the debt you incur will be $5,000 for the loan and a $1000 charge, and, therefore, you will need to repay $6,000. *Note: there will be no interest charged on |
|
HECS
The loan will be treated in the same way as your existing HECS debt, will be subject to indexation, and will have the same repayment conditions as a HECS debt.
Eligibility
You are entitled to apply for an OS-HELP loan in relation to a six month study period overseas if you:
- are an Australian citizen or the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa;
- have not received OS-HELP assistance on more than one other occasion;
- are enrolled in an undergraduate course of study at the University of Melbourne; (students undertaking Masters Courses are not considered eligible for an OS-HELP Loan, including those in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning which were previously undergraduate courses).
- have already completed at least one year of study (100 credit points) in Australia as a Commonwealth Supported Student (ie as a HECS student) that counts towards your course of study at the University of Melbourne;
- will be enrolled full-time (that is that you will receive at least 37.5 points of credit for a semester or 75 points of credit for a year) with an approved overseas higher education institution and will be undertaking that study outside Australia as part of an exchange program or as a study abroad student
- have your overseas study count as credit for the course in which you are enrolled at the University of Melbourne;
- will still have at least one semester (50 credit points) to complete in your course on return from overseas study; and
- have not been granted OS-HELP assistance by another university for an overlapping six month period.
Note:
- if you are completing a 3 year degree, as an exchange or study abroad student you may only apply for, receive and travel with an OS-HELP loan in the second semester of your second year and/or the first semester of your third year;
- Concurrent diplomas are considered separate to a single 3-year degree or a combined degree. Diploma credits, therefore, cannot be included when calculating the completed 100 credit points necessary before you can apply for OS-HELP or the 50 credit points required to be completed when you return to Melbourne; and
- Postgraduate entry degrees such as the Bachelor of Architecture (following the Bachelor of Planning and Design) or the Bachelor of Social Work (following the Bachelor of Arts) are considered separate to the original bachelor degree and cannot be included when calculating the completed 100 credit points necessary before you can apply for OS-HELP or the 50 credit points required to be completed when you return to Melbourne.
Second Loans
- If you are studying overseas for two six month periods (ie. two semesters) you may apply for a second loan of up to $5,000.
- You can do this at the time you apply for the first loan or in a later round. If you think you may need a second loan please request a second OS HELP Debt Confirmation form to take with you overseas to send six weeks prior to the end of first your six-month period. Email Naomi Taguchi to advise when you are sending the second form to begin the eligibility checking process.
- This second loan can only be paid, however, when it is confirmed not more than six weeks prior to the beginning of your second semester that you are still eligible to receive this second OS-HELP loan (this is a government regulation).
Power of Attorney
You may wish to organise a Power of Attorney before you leave for your overseas destination as forms cannot be emailed or faxed and mail services can be unreliable in some countries, should you decide to apply for a second OS-HELP loan when you are already overseas. It can take 4-6 weeks to process payment.
To accept the loan on your behalf your Power of Attorney must enclose a certified copy of the signed Power of Attorney statement with the completed acceptance form and OS-HELP Debt Confirmation carbon copies.
For more information on appointing a Power of Attorney please visit the Department of Justice.
Selection
Where there are more applications than funding available, loans will be allocated on the basis of academic merit. Students with the highest weighted averages over the most recent 100 points of study will be allocated their requested funding first, although preference may be given to certain institutions of study. This will be advertised at the time of application.
Application process
To apply you must complete an OS-HELP Loan Application Form and submit it to the Melbourne Scholarships Office by:
- 20 May: for travel in May-October
- 20 October: for travel in November-April
Timeline
Please note it can take approximately 6 weeks to process your loan from start to finish, including the mandatory 2-week cooling off period after accepting.
Payment of Loan
To receive your OS-HELP loan you must:
- accept the offer of a loan and provide your banking details;
- have been accepted by an approved overseas institution;
- have an approved overseas study plan with credit worth at least 37.5 University of Melbourne points confirmed by your faculty on your student record;
- be currently enrolled as a Commonwealth Supported Student at the University of Melbourne ; and
- complete an OS-HELP Debt Confirmation Form
You are determined to have incurred an OS-HELP debt (the OS-HELP loan plus the 20% loan fee) on the day that you receive the money. The money will be paid by electronic transfer of funds into an Australian bank account you nominate after a two week cooling-off period and within a month of the above information being confirmed.
Withdrawing Your Loan
Before being paid
If you are selected for an OS-HELP loan and your circumstances change so that you no longer meet the eligibility criteria or it is determined that you have provided false or misleading information but have not been paid the loan, the University is obliged to withdraw the offer of a loan.
After being paid
If the loan has already been paid to you and your circumstances change so that you are no longer eligible or able to study overseas, the debt has already been incurred and you can only repay the debt through the Australian Taxation Office. If it is discovered or there is reason to believe that you provided false or misleading information as part of the application process and you have already incurred an OS-HELP debt, the University must notify DEEWR immediately of the suspected offence.
Deferring your loan
You cannot defer your OS-HELP Loan. You may decline the offer, then apply again at a later stage if you still meet the eligibility criteria.
For further information
If you have any questions, please send an email from: www.undergradschols.unimelb.edu.au/query