Commonwealth supported fees and payment options

If you are an undergraduate student enrolled in a degree or course of study (not single subjects), you are most likely eligible to be Commonwealth supported.

To check what type of student you are, log in to eStudent, click on the My Offers tab, then View next to your course. Your student type will be next to the Liability Category.

Re-introduction of HECS-HELP Up-front Payment Discount for 2021

Students who are eligible to defer their fees to HECS-HELP can get a discount of the student contribution (subject fee) if a payment of more than $500* is made before the census date of each study period. Eligible students must have their tax file number list in the Government Assistance Form.

You may choose to pay some of your student contributions up front and defer the rest with a HECS‑HELP loan. For example, if you make an up-front payment of $500.00, the Government will pay one‑ninth of $500.00 to JCU on top of your up-front payment of $500*. You can then pay for the remainder of your student contribution amount with a HECS‑HELP loan.

Log in to eStudent and click on the 'My Finances' tab then select the 'Make a Student Contribution Payment' from the left hand menu to make an up-front payment and view the discount amount.

For further information and FAQ’s on the Job Ready Graduates Package, please visit the Study Assist website.

*For 2021, the student contribution for band 1 is $493. To be eligible for the discount of $49.30, you must pay $443.70.

As part of the Job-ready Graduates Package, changes have been introduced for the 2021 student contribution (subject) fees for commonwealth supported places. Students can enrol in their subjects for 2021 and view their SSA fees on eStudent. Student Contribution (subject) fees and fee statements/tax invoices will not be available until these changes are implemented and finalised in our system. Students will be advised once student contributions and fee statements are available. As a guideline for 2021 fees, please see the annual student commonwealth supported fee advertised on our course pages.

The Australian government will pay part of your subject fees directly to JCU and the remaining amount is paid by you - these amounts are known as student contribution amounts.

Australian citizens – you must undertake, in Australia, at least one unit of study contributing to your course of study.

Permanent visa holders (including Humanitarian) and New Zealand citizens – you must reside in Australia for the duration of your studies to be eligible for Commonwealth support.

Your subject fee amounts (student contributions) are based on what band/subject discipline each of your subjects sits in and the credit point value of the subject.

For example, if you study a law subject (Band 3) within an Arts degree you would pay the Band 3 fee for that subject even though most of your Arts degree subjects are listed under Band 1.

See the subject fee amounts below to view your fees by year (24 credit points) and subject (3 credit points). Three credit points is the most common subject value, however you can view the credit point value and student contribution band details for individual subjects on Subject Search.

The Government has recently passed legislation that may change the amount you pay for your student contribution amount in your Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) from 2021. If you are a continuing student* (enrolled before 1 January 2021) studying units in disciplines with increased student contribution amounts, you will continue paying the same amount (subject to indexation) for those units as you would have, had the reforms not been implemented.

Student Contribution Band (NEW 2021)	Subject disciplines/Field of Education	Per subject (3cps)	Maximum amount per year (24cps)
4	Law, accounting, economics, management, commerce, social studies, political science, justice, behavioural science (except PG clinical psychology and professional pathway psychology and social work), communications	$1,812	$14,500
3	Medical, dental, veterinary science	$1,412	$11,300
2	Allied health, other health, architecture, IT, creative arts, engineering, environmental studies, science, professional pathway psychology, professional pathway social work	$993	$7,950
1	Teaching, postgraduate clinical psychology, English, maths, nursing, languages, agriculture	$493	$3,950

Student Contribution Band	Subject disciplines/Field of Education	Per subject (3cps)	Maximum amount per year (24cps)
Band 1 (pre-2021)	Behavioural science, social studies, justice, creative arts	$850	$6,804
Band 3 (pre-2021)	Law, economics, management, commerce	$1,419	$11,355
Band 3 (NEW)	Medical, dental, veterinary science	$1,412	$11,300
Band 2 (NEW)	Allied health, other health, architecture, IT, creative arts, engineering, environmental studies, science, professional pathway psychology, professional pathway social work	$993	$7,950
Band 1 (NEW)	Teaching, postgraduate clinical psychology, English, maths, nursing, languages, agriculture	$493	$3,950

You may be eligible to be considered a 'pre-2021 student' if:

you commenced a course of study with a provider before 1 January 2021 and did not complete the course by 31 December 2020
you completed a course of study on or before 31 December 2020 and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course that relates to the earlier course and leads to an award that is an honours degree
you were undertaking, in 2020, an enabling course and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course of study that is leading to an award
you were undertaking, in 2020, a course of study leading to an undergraduate certificate (UC), and, on or after 1 January 2021, you commence another course of study that relates to the UC course and that is leading to an award that is a bachelor degree.

Additional information is available on the Study Assist - Student Contribution amounts page.

Student contribution amounts must be paid upfront, or by deferral by arrangement (if eligible) by the payment due date for each study period.

Defer payment of your student contributions

If you are:

An Australian citizen, or
A permanent humanitarian visa holder, or
A New Zealand citizen who meets certain criteria,

and you meet the residency requirements, you may be eligible to defer payment of your student contributions via HECS-HELP. See defer your fees.

New Zealand citizens (who do not meet certain criteria) and permanent residents are not eligible to defer payment.

Pay your student contributions

New Zealand citizens (who do not meet certain criteria) and permanent residents must pay your subject fees in full by the payment due date. See pay your fees.

You are also required to pay or defer payment of the SSA Fee by the payment due date for each study period.

If you are:

An Australian citizen, or
A permanent humanitarian visa holder, or
A New Zealand citizen who meets certain criteria,

and you meet residency requirements, you may be eligible to defer payment of your SSA Fee (either in full or by part-payment) by submitting an SA-HELP form. This form must be submitted by the payment due date for the course you are currently enrolled.

New Zealand citizens (who do not meet certain criteria) and permanent residents must pay the SSA Fee up-front.

Commonwealth support does not apply if:

You are studying single subjects and not admitted to a full course (miscellaneous students), or
You began your Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Dentistry or Veterinary Science course as an international student and your residency has changed, or
You have chosen not to be Commonwealth supported by the census date and you have requested in writing by email to Student Finance to pay domestic tuition fees for a subject(s) within 21 days after this date.

Refer to the Domestic undergraduate fees for more information.

If you commenced your course as an international student but your residency status has since changed to domestic, depending on what you are studying, you may be eligible for a Commonwealth supported place. For more information see fee information for international students.

Commonwealth supported students can access their CAN for each study period within 28 days of the census date via eStudent. This notice details your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN), any fee payments you have made and your HELP debt balance for that study period. For more information, see Commonwealth Assistance Notices.