Commonwealth Supported Place
A Commonwealth supported place (CSP) is a higher education place available to eligible domestic students which is subsidised by the Australian Government. All undergraduate and honours degrees and some postgraduate programs have CSPs available. To be eligible for a CSP you must be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent visa holder or a New Zealand citizen and meet all of the eligibility criteria and residency requirements.
Student contribution amount
The fees you pay are known as the student contribution amount (SCA) and are set by the government on an annual basis. Student contribution is determined by the discipline area (band) of your individual enrolled courses (subjects), not your overall program.
You may be eligible to apply for a HECS-HELP loan which assists CSP students to defer payment of all or part of their student contribution.
You can estimate your annual fee by assuming that all courses in your program will be from the same band and use the maximum student contribution for that band. For example, if you're enrolled in a Science degree your approximate 2018 student contribution would be $9,185. Maximum annual student contribution is based on an equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) or 120 credit points (i.e. 8 courses x 15 credit points).
2018 maximum student contribution amounts (per EFTSL)
Contribution band / course (subject) discipline | Maximum annual student contribution | Student contribution 15 credit point course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1: Behavioural science, clinical psychology, education*, foreign languages, humanities, nursing*, social studies, visual and performing arts | $6,444 | $805 | |
| Band 2: Agriculture, allied health, built environment, computing, engineering, mathematics, other health, science, statistics, surveying | $9,185 | $1,148 | |
| Band 3: Accounting, administration, commerce, dentistry, economics, law, medicine, veterinary science | $10,754 | $1,344 | |
* Students who commenced their program before 1 January 2010 will be charged for education and nursing courses at the student contribution amount of $5,157 per EFTSL in 2018.
2017 maximum student contribution amounts (per EFTSL)
Contribution band / course (subject) discipline | Maximum annual student contribution | Student contribution 15 credit point course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 1: Behavioural science, clinical psychology, education*, foreign languages, humanities, nursing*, social studies, visual and performing arts | $6,349 | $793 | |
| Band 2: Agriculture, allied health, built environment, computing, engineering, mathematics, other health, science, statistics, surveying | $9,050 | $1,131 | |
| Band 3: Accounting, administration, commerce, dentistry, economics, law, medicine, veterinary science | $10,596 | $1,324 | |
* Students who commenced their program before 1 January 2010 will be charged for education and nursing courses at the student contribution amount of $5,081 per EFTSL in 2017.
Calculating your student contribution
To calculate your exact annual student contribution for a program you will need to know each of the courses (subjects) you will be enrolling in as well as the band and weight (EFTSL) of each course.
2018 course (subject) information
The exact student contribution for a course (subject) is calculated by multiplying the course EFTSL value by the maximum student contribution for the course's allocated band.