Following the passage of the Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (Student Loan Sustainability) Act 2018, from 1 January 2020 the FEE-HELP limit has been replaced by the HELP loan limit and includes HECS-HELP loans with census dates from 1 January 2020. This may also be referred to as your 'combined HELP' and is a cap on what you can borrow from the Australian Government to cover the costs of your tuition fees. This limit excludes any loan fee.

The HELP loan limit will increase annually inline with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

In 2023 the HELP loan limit will be $113,028 for most students. The limit for students studying medicine and some aviation courses will be $162,336

In 2024 the HELP loan limit will be $121,844 for most students. The limit for students studying medicine and some aviation courses will be $174,998

Renewable HELP balance

From 1 January 2020, you can top up your HELP loan balance by making repayments on your debt. You cannot increase your HELP loan limit, however any repayments you make on your HELP debt will credit your available HELP balance, up to your applicable HELP loan limit.

What will be included in my combined HELP loan limit?

  • Any existing and new FEE-HELP borrowed.
  • Any new HECS-HELP (where the census date is after 1 Jan 2020)

HECS-HELP accumulated prior to 1 Jan 2020, SA-HELP and OS-HELP will not be included in the new combined HELP loan limit, however, they will continue to remain as part of your overall HELP debt.

Got a question?

How do I check my Balance?

If you would like to check your HELP balance you will need to know your Commonwealth Higher Education Support Number (CHESSN) OR your Unique Student Identifier (USI) which you can obtain from any Commonwealth Assistance Notice.

You can use your CHESSN or USI to log in to myHELPbalance and monitor your usage.

If you don’t have enough HELP balance remaining for your studies, you will be required to pay your fees upfront each enrolment period.

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