In their list of course preferences, students can choose to apply for a combination of two types of fee enrolment:
1. Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs, formerly known as HECS)
Students in a Commonwealth Supported Place pay a proportion of their course fees while the rest is subsidised by the government. The amount of the student’s contribution depends on the course. Students can either pay their proportion upfront at the beginning of each year, or defer payment and pay it back through tax once they’re earning a certain level of income. While the upfront payment offers a discount, most students choose to defer payment so that they don’t have to worry about their course costs until they are working full-time.
Full fee-paying places
Fee-paying places require up front payment of the full course fees each year. Fee-paying places are usually offered at an ENTER score lower than that of the Commonwealth Supported Places, so this is an option for students who just missed out on a CSP but may be willing and able to pay the fees. The fees vary according to the course and government loans called FEE-HELP are available to help with the payment of these fees.
For more information about current fees, see http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/Home.htm
For information about financial assistance and scholarships see Paying for it.