Commonwealth supported students

‘Commonwealth supported’ means the cost of your study is shared between the Australian Government and you.

A Commonwealth supported place (CSP) is a place at a university or higher education provider where the government pays part of your fees. This part is a subsidy, not a loan, and you don't have to pay it back.

This subsidy does not cover the entire cost of your study. Students must pay the rest, called the 'student contribution amount'. Your student contribution amount will be calculated using the annual student contribution amount from the table below.

HECS-HELP is the government loan scheme that assists eligible Commonwealth supported students in paying their student contribution fees. You can view further information on Commonwealth supported places (CSP) on the StudyAssist website.

All Commonwealth supported place students (including students paying up-front) must still:

Submit a valid Commonwealth Assistance Form before the census date (via the Student System)
Enrol in at least one topic prior to census date

Get further instructions on completing your Commonwealth Assistance Form.

Note: Students who are Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, and who are not Commonwealth supported students should refer to Fee-Paying Student Tuition Fees. Most CSPs are for undergraduate study only.

Student Learning Entitlement

As part of the Jobs Ready Graduates package, the Commonwealth government has re-introduced a limit on the amount of time that you can be enrolled as a Commonwealth Supported student.

From 2022, all students will start with the equivalent of seven years of of full-time study in a Commonwealth Supported Place. As you undertake study as a Commonwealth Supported student, your Student Learning Entitlement will reduce

Study undertaken as a Commonwealth Supported student prior to 1 January 2022 will not reduce this seven year limit.

Student contribution amounts for 2023 enrolment

Students who commenced a course whose first census date is on or after 1 January 2021

Discipline	Band	Amount per EFTSL*
Agriculture, Clinical Psychology, Education, English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Nursing, Statistics, Teaching	Band 1	$4,124
Allied Health, Behavioural Sciences¹, Built Environment, Engineering, Environmental Studies, IT, Other Health, Pathology, Science, Social Studies³, Surveying, Visual and Performing Arts	Band 3	$8,301
Dental, Medical, Veterinary Science	Band 4	$11,800
Accounting, Administration, Arts, Behavioural Sciences², Commerce, Communications, Economics, Humanities, Law, Management, Social Studies⁴	Band 6	$15,142

* Equivalent Full Time Student Load

1 Behavioural Sciences topics that are being taken as part of a course that leads to a degree in Psychology recognised for registration by the Psychology Board of Australia.

2 Behavioural Sciences topics that are being studied but not as part of a course that contributes to a degree recognised for registration by the Psychology Board of Australia.

3 Social Studies topics that are being taken as part of a course that leads to a degree in social work accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers.

4 Social Studies topics that are being studied but not as part of a course that leads to a degree in social work accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers.

Students who are continuing a course that they have completed at least one topic prior to 2021

Discipline	Band	Amount per EFTSL*
Agriculture, Clinical Psychology, Education, English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Nursing, Statistics, Teaching	Band 1	$4,124
Arts, Behavioural Sciences, Humanities, Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts	Band 2	$7,105
Allied Health, Built Environment, Engineering, Environmental Studies, IT, Other Health, Science, Surveying, Pathology	Band 3	$8,301
Dental, Medical, Veterinary Science	Band 4	$11,800
Accounting, Administration, Commerce, Economics, Law, Management	Band 5	$11,857

* Equivalent Full Time Student Load

2023 student contribution amounts by unit value

The table below shows the cost for individual topics based on their unit value.

Band	Unit value
Band	4.5 Units	9 units	13.5 Units	18 Units
Band 1	$515	$1,030	$1,546	$2,062
Band 2	$888	$1,776	$2,664	$3,552
Band 3	$1,037	$2,075	$3,112	$4,150
Band 4	$1,475	$2,950	$4,425	$5,900
Band 5	$1,482	$2,964	$4,446	$5,928
Band 6	$1,892	$3,785	$5,678	$7,571

Pre 2021 eligibility

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

you are enrolled in a course that you commenced with Flinders before 1 January 2021, and did not complete the course by 31 December 2020; or
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; or
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; or
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’s degree.

In order to be considered to have commenced a course you must have remained enrolled in a topic which had a census date prior to 1 January 2021

Professional Pathway topics

Professional Pathway topics are:

Behavioural Science topics that contribute to a course that leads to a bachelor’s degree or honours degree in psychology, with a course structure that makes it compulsory to study the units relevant to professional registration as a psychologist by the Psychology Board of Australia, and which itself represents a pathway to professional registration as a psychologist; or are

Human Welfare Studies and Services topics that contribute to courses of study that lead to a bachelor degree, honours degree or master’s degree in:

social work accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers;
youth work accredited by Youth Work Australia;
counselling accredited by the Australian Counsellors Association and/or the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia; and
community work accredited by the Australian Community Workers Association.