Student Start-Up Loan
From 1 January 2016, the Student Start-up Loan will replace the Student Start-up Scholarship and will be available to new student payment recipients (Youth Allowance (student), Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance) undertaking higher education. It will be a voluntary income contingent loan which students will be able to apply for to help with the costs of study.
Application opening date: 1 January 2016
Application closing date: 1 December 2016
Method of application:
- Current Centrelink customers can apply for a Student Start-up Loan using their Centrelink online account through myGov.
- New Centrelink claimants can apply for the Student Start-up Loan as part of their online claim for Abstudy or Youth Allowance.
Amount:
The Student Start-up Loan is $1025 for each six months of eligible study (a total of $2050 per annum). This amount is indexed each year.
Eligibility requirements
Eligibility criteria:
To be eligible for the Student Start-up Loan you must be:
- studying full-time in an approved scholarship course
- receiving ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Austudy, or Youth Allowance as a full-time student
- receiving at least $1 of Youth Allowance or Austudy basic benefit or ABSTUDY Living Allowance in the fortnight in which a scholarship is payable (i.e. you must be receiving more than just the Pharmaceutical Allowance and Rent Assistance component of Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY)
More information:
Students will be required to repay the Loan once their income exceeds the minimum repayment threshold, currently at $54,126 for 2015-16. Payment arrangements will be managed by the Australian Taxation Office in the same manner as the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) debts. Repayment of the Loan will be delayed until after any HELP debt is completely repaid.
Student Start-Up Scholarship
Students who previously received a Student Start-up Scholarship prior to 1 January 2016 and remained continuously on student payments (Youth Allowance (student), Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance) will continue to receive the Student Start-up Scholarship as a grant until coming off student payments. They will not be required to repay any part of it.
Contact information:
For more information:
- Contact a Centrelink Office
- Visit the Centrelink website
- StudyAssist - Student Start-up Loan update
- Department of Human Services
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.ecu.edu.au/scholarships/scholarships-by-pathways/external-scholarships/details/student-start-up-loan