What is FEE-HELP?
FEE-HELP is a Commonwealth Government loan scheme that allows eligible domestic students to defer all or part of their tuition fees for higher education courses.

While international students are typically not eligible for FEE-HELP loans, there are other pathways to support your study at Ikon.

How it works
The debt is indexed annually to account for inflation.

If approved, your tuition fees are paid directly to Ikon by the Government.

Eligibility
To access FEE-HELP, you must meet criteria such as:

• Be an Australian citizen (or eligible permanent / humanitarian visa holder)
• Be enrolled in a higher education course (i.e. a degree or postgraduate award) at a FEE-HELP–approved provider
• Submit a valid eCAF (Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form) by the census date of your course / subject.
• Have a valid Tax File Number (TFN) and Unique Student Identifier (USI)
• Have enough remaining HELP balance (i.e. you haven’t exceeded your borrowing limit)

Points to note

• FEE-HELP is only available for tuition fees — it does not cover living expenses, textbooks, accommodation, or incidental costs.
• If you don’t pass or withdraw after census date, you may still incur a HELP debt for that unit.
• Repayments are compulsory once your income exceeds the repayment threshold, and repayments are made via the taxation system.

Austudy (for domestic students only)

Financial help if you’re 25 or older and studying or an Australian Apprentice.

To get this you must be:

• 25 or older
• a full time domestic student in an approved course or Australian Apprenticeship
• under the income test limits.

Please apply directly to Centrelink for information on eligibility.
For more information visit: Services Australia

Ikon’s Centrelink reference number is 5P241

To complement government assistance, Ikon offers internal supports to assist students facing financial stress or hardship:

• Scholarships
  At Ikon we offer scholarships for both domestic and international students. Our scholarships are designed to help you manage the cost of your education and allows you to focus more on your studies. It’s our way of supporting your educational experience with us. For more information, please check our scholarships page.
• Emergency & Hardship Aid
  In cases of unexpected events (e.g. medical emergencies, natural disasters, personal crises), please contact our Student Experience team for available options.
• Private / Overseas Loan Programs (International students)
  Students can explore education loan schemes in their home country or via international loan providers such as, Student Loans | Prodigy Finance or Spark Finance – Student Loans – Tailored Rates & Flexible Repayment Plans (eligibility and criteria apply.)

Financial help if you’re 24 or younger and a student or Australian Apprentice, or 21 or younger and looking for work.

• 16 to 21 and looking for full time work
• 18 to 24 and studying full time
• 16 to 24 and doing a full time Australian Apprenticeship
• 16 to 17 and independent or needing to live away from home to study
• 16 to 17, studying full time and have completed year 12 or equivalent.
• A permanent resident or Australian Citizen.

For more info, check the Government website here.

Pensioner Education Supplement

Some of our courses are eligible for the: Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), which is a regular extra financial help with your study costs if you get certain payments.

To get PES you must be doing all the following:

• getting a payment from us or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs that has this benefit as an add on
• studying an approved course
• studying full time or in special circumstances, as a part time student.