Higher Educationadministrative Information for Providers

Higher EducationAdministrative Information for Providers

November2013

CONTENTS

1General information

1.1Legislation, guidelines and determinations

1.2Open Universities Australia

1.3Important changes for 2013

1.4Fairness requirements

1.5Equal access to Commonwealth benefits

1.6Application of merit in selection of students

2Newly approved providers – the next steps

2.1HEP requirements pack

2.2Transitioning continuing students to FEE-HELP

3Grievance and review procedures

4Voluntary student unionism

4.1Compliance with VSU

5Student cohorts

5.1Pre-2005 students

5.2Pre2008 students

5.3Pre-2009 students

5.4Pre-2010 students

6Student contribution amounts for transitional and nontransitional arrangements

7Domestic and overseas students

7.1Domestic students

7.2Overseas students

8Courses of study

8.1Courses of study

8.2Higher education awards

8.3Course specialisations or streams

8.4Combined and double degree programs

8.5Undergraduate courses of study

8.6Postgraduate courses of study

8.7Enabling courses

8.8Nonaward studies

8.9Activating courses for HELP in HITS

9Census dates

9.1Unit duration and census dates

9.2Census dates for full-year units

9.3Setting common census dates

9.4Census dates for postgraduate research units

9.5Publishing census dates

10Equivalent full-time student load

10.1Determining EFTSL values for units of study

10.2Publishing EFTSL values for units

11Request for Commonwealth assistance forms

11.1Types of forms and who must complete them

11.2Issuing the forms to students

11.3Student submission of forms

11.4Submitting forms electronically

11.5Signing forms

11.6Checking forms and correcting errors

11.7Distributing forms

11.8Retaining forms

11.9Cancelling forms and form validity

11.10Completing new forms or multiple forms

12Commonwealth Assistance Notice

12.1What information must the CAN contain?

12.2When must the CAN be given?

12.3Electronic issue of the CAN

12.4Incorrect CANs

13Exempt students

13.1What is an exempt student?

13.2Who is an exempt student?

13.3Notifying students

14Exemption scholarships

14.1What is an exemption scholarship?

14.2Eligibility for an exemption scholarship

14.3When may an exemption scholarship be awarded?

14.4Notifying the student

14.5Social security treatment of exemption scholarships

15Work experience in industry units

15.1What is a WEI unit?

15.2Do WEI units attract CGS funding?

15.3Can a provider charge a student contribution or tuition fee for WEI?

15.4When is a student enrolled in a WEI unit a Commonwealth supported student?

16Crossinstitutional programs

16.1What is a crossinstitutional program?

16.2Commonwealth supported students in a crossinstitutional program

16.3Fee-paying students in a crossinstitutional program

16.4Eligibility for FEEHELP

16.5How are crossinstitutional programs reported?

17Exchange and study abroad students

17.1Domestic students on a formal exchange program

17.2Domestic students on a study abroad program

17.3Overseas students on a formal exchange program

17.4Overseas students on a study abroad program

18Employer reserved places

18.1What is an employer reserved place?

18.2Can a student be Commonwealth supported?

18.3Funding and tuition fee arrangements

19Incidental fees

19.1Fees for goods and services incidental to studies

19.2Circumstances in which a provider may levy incidental fees

19.3Circumstances in which a provider must not levy fees

19.4Special admissions tests

20Student services and amenities fee

20.1What is the student services and amenities fee?

20.2Who can be charged a student services and amenities fee?

20.3Who will the fee apply to?

20.4Arrangements for part-time students

20.5Charging international students the student services and amenities fee

20.6Determining the date the debt is incurred

20.7Payment of the student services and amenities fee

20.8Refund of the fee

20.9Variations to the fee or the day on which the fee is payable

20.10GST requirements

20.11Publishing requirements

20.12Allowable expenditures for fee revenue

20.13National Access to Services Benchmarks

20.14National Student Representation Protocols

21Third party or partnership arrangements

21.1What is a third party arrangement?

22Commonwealth supported places

22.1What are Commonwealth supported places?

22.2Responsibility for allocating CSPs

22.3Allocating a Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number

22.4When does a student become a Commonwealth supported student?

22.5Student notification of CSP

22.6Continued support in a CSP

22.7CSP eligibility

22.8Courses in which students must not be Commonwealth supported

22.9Student Learning Entitlement

22.10Unit of study requirements

22.11Enrolment requirements

22.12Requirements for the payment of student contribution amounts

22.13Students choosing not to be Commonwealth supported

23Commonwealth contribution amounts

23.1How much will the Commonwealth contribute?

23.2How are units of study allocated to funding clusters?

24Student contribution amounts

24.1Student contribution requirements

24.2Determining student contribution amounts

24.3Maximum student contribution amounts

24.4Calculating the student contribution amount for a unit of study

24.5Payment of student contribution amounts

24.6Students exempt from making a student contribution

24.7Tax deductibility of student contribution amounts

24.8Student withdrawal on or before the census date

24.9Student withdrawal after the census date

24.10Unit cancellation after the census date

24.11Issuing the CAN

25Domestic students who are fee-paying students

25.1Fee-paying summer school units

25.2Fee-paying winter school units

26Domestic student tuition fees

26.1Tuition fee requirements

26.2Determining tuition fees

26.3Minimum tuition fee requirements

26.4Student withdrawal on or before the census date

27Domestic undergraduate fee-paying students

27.1Offering fee-paying undergraduate places

28Waiving tuition fees

28.1Fee scholarships

29Overseas student fees and course requirements

29.1Fee requirements

29.2Registration of courses offered for overseas students

29.3Reporting requirements for third party or partnership arrangements

30Higher Education Loan Program

30.1What is HELP?

30.2Determining HELP eligibility

31HECSHELP

31.1What is HECSHELP?

31.2Who is eligible for HECSHELP?

31.3Request for Commonwealth Support and HECSHELP

31.4Student contribution payment options

31.5Full upfront payments for HECSHELP eligible students

31.6Partial upfront payments

31.7Deadline for upfront payments

31.8Payment of the HECSHELP discount

31.9HECSHELP loans

31.10Withdrawal on or before the census date

31.11Refunding excess payments

31.12Withdrawal after the census date

31.13Cancellation of units of study after the census date

31.14CAN

31.15Repaying HECS-HELP debts

31.16Tax deductibility of student contribution amounts

31.17Voluntary repayments

32FEEHELP

32.1What is FEEHELP?

32.2Which providers may be eligible for offer FEEHELP?

32.3What does FEEHELP cover?

32.4Eligibility requirements

32.5FEE-HELP course requirements

32.6Bridging courses for overseastrained professionals

32.7FEE-HELP limit and balance

32.8Allocating a CHESSN

32.9Calculating the amount of FEEHELP

32.10Loan fee and amount of FEE-HELP debt

32.11Request for FEE-HELP Assistance

32.12CAN

32.13Withdrawing on or before the census date

32.14Withdrawing after the census date

32.15Cancelling units of study after the census date

32.16Repaying FEE-HELP debt

32.17Tax deductibility of tuition fees paid through FEEHELP

32.18Voluntary repayments

33OSHELP

33.1What is OSHELP?

33.2Changes to OS-HELP from 2014

33.3How OS-HELP works

33.4Allocating OS-HELP to providers

33.5OS-HELP eligibility

33.6Determining OSHELP eligibility

33.7Sixmonth study period

33.8Overseas study requirements

33.9Asian language study requirements

33.10Full-time study under OS-HELP

33.11Determining if a student has previously received, or applied for, OSHELP

33.12Evidence a student is undertaking Asian language study

33.13Selecting students for OS-HELP

33.14Providing OS-HELP information to students

33.15Notifying students of their OS-HELP application outcome

33.16OS-HELP Debt Confirmation form

33.17Collecting and handling information from students

33.18Calculating the amount of OS-HELP

33.19Setting a minimum OS-HELP amount

33.20Amount of OS-HELP debt

33.21Making OS-HELP payments to students

33.22Issuing a CAN

33.23Incurring OS-HELP debt

33.24Change in student’s circumstances

33.25Provision of false or misleading information by a student

33.26What happens if a student does not undertake their overseas study or is otherwise ineligible?

33.27What happens if a student does not undertake their Asian language study?

33.28Remitting OS-HELP debt

33.29Repaying OS-HELP debt

33.30Voluntary OS-HELP debt repayments

34SA-HELP

34.1What is SA-HELP?

34.2SA-HELP eligibility

34.3Requesting SAHELP

34.4SA-HELP for cross-institutional enrolments

34.5SA-HELP and the CHESSN

34.6Amount of SA-HELP

34.7Paying SA-HELP

34.8SA-HELP and the CAN

34.9Incurring SA-HELP

34.10Remitting SA-HELP

34.11Repaying SA-HELP

34.12Voluntary repayments

35Tax file number requirements

35.1Who is required to provide a TFN?

35.2When must students provider their TFN?

35.3How should students provide their TFN?

35.4Notification if a student does not provide a TFN

35.5Students who do not have, or cannot remember, their TFN

35.6Validation of TFNs

35.7TFN and the electronic submission of forms

35.8ATO TFN notices

35.9TFN retention and disposal

35.10TFN confidentiality

35.11Provision of TFN if student enrols in a new course of study

36Repaying HELP loans and indexation arrangements

36.1Compulsory repayments

36.2Voluntary repayments

36.3Tax deductibility of repayments

36.4Indexation of outstanding HELP debts

36.5HECS-HELP benefit

37Reporting requirements

37.1The Higher Education Student Data Collection

37.2Data validation

37.3Variations

37.4Assisting students with revised HELP debt that is yet to be advised to the ATO

38Publishing requirements

38.1Schedule of student contribution amounts and tuition fees

38.2Schedule of student services and amenities fee

38.3Census dates and EFTSL values

38.4Changes to published student services and amenities fee information

38.5Changes to published unit of study information

38.6Revoking saved determinations with regard to student cohorts

38.7Revoking a saved determination without Ministerial approval

38.8Revoking a saved determination with Ministerial approval

38.9Student contribution amount or tuition fee after a saved determination is revoked

39Financial viability

39.1Financial viability assessment process

40Provider payment and reconciliation

40.1HECS-HELP payment cycle

40.2FEE-HELP payment cycle

40.3OS-HELP payment cycle

40.4SA-HELP payment cycle

41Privacy requirements

41.1Obligations under the Privacy Act 1988

41.2Seeking informed consent from students

41.3Privacy complaints and advice

42Higher Education Information Management System

42.1What is HEIMS?

42.2Managing student FEE-HELP eligibility

42.3HEIMS outputs for eligibility management

42.4CHESSN

42.5Who must be allocated a CHESSN?

42.6The Study Assist website

43Electronic communications

43.1What can be communication electronically

43.2Requirements for electronic communication of information from a student to a provider

43.3Electronic submission of documents that require signature

43.4Issuing unique identifiers to students

43.5Verifying a student’s identity

43.6Requirements for electronic forms

43.7TFN requirements for electronic forms

43.8Retrieval of information

43.9Storage of data

43.10Requirements for electronic communication of information from a provider to a student

44Recrediting, remission and repayment

44.1Recrediting a person’s FEE-HELP balance

44.2Remission of HECS-HELP debt and/or repayment of upfront payments of student contribution amounts

44.3Recrediting, remission and/or repayment process

44.4When must a provider recredit, remit and/or repay?

44.5Academic review and recredit or remission of HELP debt

44.6Timeframe for making decisions

45Review of decisions

45.1Provider review of decision

45.2Review by the AAT

46Waiver of HELP debt

47Freedom of information

48Appendices

A.Contacts and useful links

B.Terminology used in the AIP

C.Sample Request for Commonwealth Support and HECSHELP form

D.Sample Request for FEE-HELP Assistance form

E.Sample Request for FEE-HELP Assistance Open Universities Australia form

F.Sample OS-HELP Debt Confirmation form

G.Sample Request for SA-HELP Assistance form

H.Permanent visas and permanent humanitarian visa subclasses

I.Samples of evidence of an Application for a TFN

J.Sample wording for informed consent

K.New Zealand citizens

L.Sample TFN notifications from the ATO

M.To the ATO – proforma for variation of debt due to administrative error

N.To the department – proforma for variation of debt due to administrative error

O.Student cohorts

P.Guide to special circumstances decision-making

Q.Code of Practice for Notification of Reviewable Decisions and Rights of Review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

R.Pre2005 and Pre-2008 students

S.Incidental fees

T.Changes in November 2013 edition

1General information

The November 2013 Higher Education Administrative Information for Providers(AIP)has been developed by the Department of Education (the department) to update information previously published in the Administrative information for higher education providers: student support (February2012). The HE AIP is provided to help higher education providers (providers) interpret and implement the student support policies enacted under Commonwealth legislation and associated guidelines. It explains the rules and procedures associated with administering:

• bachelor places for Commonwealth supported students;
• the allocation of Commonwealth supported places (CSP) for postgraduate courses, courses of study leading to a diploma, advanced diploma and associate degree, enabling courses and courses of study in medicine;
• tuition fees for domestic and overseas fee-paying students;
• the student services and amenities fee;
• the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), with the exception of VET FEE-HELP; and
• voluntary student unionism (VSU).

1.1Legislation, guidelines and determinations

The AIP should be read in conjunction with the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), including its notes and Table A, which provides information on application, saving and transitional provisions. The AIP should also be read with other associated legislation and guidelines, which are the primary sources of the requirements with which providers must comply. Relevant sections of legislation and guidelines are referenced throughout the AIP.

Examples

• References to legislation will look like this: [HESA section 19-30];
• Reference to guidelines will look like this: [FEE-HELP Guidelines chapter 3];

For links to relevant legislation, guidelines and Ministerial determinations, see Appendix A.

Changes are made to legislation, guidelines and Ministerial determinations from time to time. The department recommends the latest versions of all resources be consulted. If there is any inconsistency between the content of the AIP and the provisions of the legislation, guidelines or Ministerial determinations, the provisions of the legislation, guidelines or Ministerial determinations will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. For a full list of the terminology used in the AIP, seeAppendix B.

1.2Open Universities Australia

Open Universities Australia (OUA) is not a provider under HESA. However, where the AIP refers to providers and to students undertaking studies with a provider, that information also applies to OUA and to OUA students where relevant, unless indicated otherwise. If there is a specific requirement for OUA, it is detailed in the relevant part of the AIP.

1.3Important changes for 2013

The AIP includes information relating to the following changes resulting from amendments to HESA from:

• the Higher Education Support Amendment Act (No. 1) 2012;
• the Higher Education Support Amendment (Student Contribution Amounts and Other Measures) Act 2012;
• the Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payments and Other Measures) Act 2012; and
• the Higher Education Support Amendment (Streamlining and Other Measures) Act 2012.

The terms ‘course of study in medicine’, ‘course of study in dentistry’ and ‘course of study in veterinary science’ are used to determine which students are eligible for the higher FEEHELP limit, which is $116,507 in 2013 and $120,002 in 2014. The definitions of course of study in dentistry and in veterinary science were amended to clarify that only students undertaking courses of study that satisfy the minimumacademic requirements for registration as a dentist, veterinary surgeon or veterinary practitioner are eligible for the higher FEEHELP limit.

From 1 January 2013, all students who enrol in units of study in mathematics, science and statistics will pay an increased student contribution amount. Mathematics, statistics and science units were classified as National Priority units of study and students had been charged a reduced maximum student contribution amount. The maximum student contribution amount for students enrolled in these units increases to $8,363 in 2013 from $4,520 in 2012, which is an increase of $3,843.

The total level of funding provided to universities for these units is being maintained. Universities were provided with transitional loading for student load in mathematics, statistics and science units as compensation for the previously reduced student contribution amounts. This transitional loading has ceased with the student contribution amount increases from 1January 2013.

The Government has removed eligibility for CSP and HELP for Australian citizens who commence a course of study on or after 1 January 2013 where a provider reasonably expects the person will not undertake any of their course of study in Australia. The amendments will affect Australian citizens who are living overseas on an ongoing basis.

Students undertaking study as part of a formal exchange or study abroad program for some of the units in their course, including those students receiving OS-HELP, will not be affected by this change.Australian citizens who are currently residing overseas and are enrolled in a course of study at an Australian campus of an Australian provider will continue to be able to access CSPs and HELP for the duration of that course. The amended eligibility conditions only apply to students commencing a course of study from 1 January 2013.

See Appendix T for a list of changes.

1.4Fairness requirements

HESA details the requirements for the treatment of students that are enrolled or seeking to enrol with Table A, Table B and Table C providers [HESA sections 16-15, 16-20 and 16-22] and approved higher education providers [HESASubdivision19D].

A provider must treat all of its current students and any person who is seeking to enrol with the provider fairly [HESA section 19-30].

The application of fair treatment does not require all students to be treated the same. Fairness must be considered in the context of all of the relevant circumstances. There are situations in which the fair treatment of students may result in students in different circumstances being treated differently.

1.5Equal access to Commonwealth benefits

Where a provider receives a grant or access to assistance under chapter 3 of HESA in respect of a class of students, the provider must ensure the benefits of, and the opportunities created by, that grant or assistance are made equally accessible to all of the students in that class [HESAsubsection 19-35(1)].

The Commonwealth provides grants and assistance to benefit students through:

• CSPs made available under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS);
• HELP;
• student places for research students under the Research Training Scheme (RTS);
• various scholarships for disadvantaged students and research students; and
• various equity programs providing additional support for designated equity groups.

1.6Application of merit in selection of students

A provider must have open, fair and transparent procedures for making decisions about students applying for, or receiving Commonwealth assistance that, in the provider’s reasonable view, are based on merit [HESA subsections 19-35(2) and 19-35(4)].

Application of merit

The application of merit in decision-making generally would be expected to involve a provider considering each application on a case by case basis and not applying inflexible policies that may preclude eligible applicants from having their application considered.

No income test

A provider may not apply an income test when making decisions about which of their students are to be advised they are Commonwealth supported. A provider may not exclude high income students, or students whose parents have a high income, from having their application for Commonwealth support considered on the basis of merit.

Membership of a particular group

Generally, a provider would not be able to make membership of a particular group, for example social, religious, socioeconomic or cultural, a Commonwealth supporteligibility requirement as this would not be considered a requirement based on merit. This may depend on the stated objectives or mission statement of the relevant provider. This is different from the Commonwealth providing a grant which is to benefit only a particular group.

Educational disadvantage

When making decisions about the selection of students, a provider is able to take educational disadvantages that a particular student has experienced into account [HESAsubsections 1935(3) and 1935(5)]. This should involve consideration of the actual disadvantages that a particular student has experienced.

A provider should not use proxy indicators of educational disadvantage in the absence of clear evidence that all students in such a group necessarily suffered educational disadvantage. Proxy indicators should not be used because they assume that all people who satisfy the proxy indicator, for example being from a low socio-economic group or rural area, have necessarily experienced educational disadvantage. A provider is required to consider a particular student’s specific circumstances before making a decision about whether the student has actually suffered educational disadvantage.