Full-fee paying students

If you enrol in a domestic full-fee place, your tuition fees are not subsidised by the Australian Government.

You will need to pay the full amount for all units you are enrolled in before the relevant census date for each study period. You are considered to be a full-fee paying student.

Calculating your fees

The amount you pay for your course is the sum of the full-fee amount for the units you are enrolled in. Course pages display all of the units that make up your course, including core, professional and elective units.

2025 fees:

2025 undergraduate indicative full fees & commonwealth supported place (CSP):
2025 undergraduate unit fees (PDF, 314.52 KB)
2025 postgraduate indicative full fees & commonwealth supported place (CSP):
2025 postgraduate full fees (PDF, 258.37 KB)

2024 fees:

2024 undergraduate indicative full fees & commonwealth supported place (CSP):
2024 undergraduate unit fees (PDF, 963.83 KB)
2024 postgraduate indicative full fees (per 96 credit points & unit fees per 12 credit points):
2024 postgraduate full fees (PDF, 194.98 KB)

For unit charges related to VU Online postgraduate full-fee courses, please visit the VU Online website.

How fees are calculated

Different study areas are grouped into several bands by the Government for full-fee paying students. The bands set the maximum amount that can be charged for units on a full-time study load.

When calculating your student contribution, the amount you pay will depend on the:

band that each unit fits into (as they are not always the same, such as when enrolling in electives)
unit's study load (EFTSL)
year (since the band amounts are indexed annually).

EFTSL stands for 'equivalent full-time student load'. This is a measure of the study load for one year of a full-time student. A single unit normally has 12 credit points, which is equivalent to 0.125.

Your tuition fee for a unit of study is calculated as: EFTSL multiplied by band range = unit tuition fee

Fee calculation example

Type of place	Unit	EFTSL	Fee band per EFTSL	Tuition fee
Full fee	EPM5500 – Fundamentals of project management	0.125	3 ($25,200)	$3,150

Government tuition fee loan

Eligible students enrolled in a full-fee paying place may be able to get help paying their fees through the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), administered by the Government.

FEE-HELP is a loan scheme to help eligible domestic full-fee paying students pay for all or part of their tuition fees. It cannot be used for additional study costs such as accommodation or text books.

TAFE students should see our information on VET Students Loans.

: The total amount of FEE-HELP a person can use is set by the combined HELP loan limit.

For 2023, eligible students can borrow up to the combined HELP loan limit to pay their tuition fees. The combined HELP loan limits are:

medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses $162,336

all other students $113,028.

From 1 January 2020, the HELP loan limit will indicate the cap on the amount you can borrow from the Australian Government. It combines the debt for HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans.
: Once you start using FEE‑HELP, the amount of HELP you have left to use is known as your ‘HELP balance’. You can check your HELP balance on your Commonwealth Assistance Notice.

HELP loans are renewable. The available HELP balance is calculated as your HELP loan limit of that year, minus your HECS-HELP, FEE HELP, VET FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans borrowing.

This means that making a repayment will increase your available HELP balance up to the HELP loan limit, and taking out a loan will reduce your available HELP balance.

Read more about the combined HELP loan limit, renewable HELP balance and Fee-HELP on the Study Assist website.