Who should read this information?
What is a postgraduate course of study?
Who offers postgraduate courses?
Cost of postgraduate studies
Applying for a postgraduate course
Loan schemes for postgraduate studies
Currently using PELS to pay for your postgraduate course?
Postgraduate scholarships
Further assistance
Who should read this information?
You should read this information if you are either:
- planning to undertake a postgraduate course of study, or
- currently enrolled in a postgraduate course of study.
What is a postgraduate course of study?
Postgraduate courses of study are generally for students who have already completed an undergraduate degree. A postgraduate course of study is a:
- graduate certificate
- graduate diploma
- masters degree, or
- doctoral degree.
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Who offers postgraduate courses?
Higher education providers (providers) offer a range of postgraduate courses of study. Some units of study undertaken with Open Universities Australia 
(formerly OLA) may also be credited towards a postgraduate course of study.
See also: Providers & courses
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Cost of postgraduate studies
The cost of postgraduate studies varies greatly. You should contact your higher education provider for information about how much you would expect to pay for a course leading to a postgraduate degree.
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Applying for a postgraduate course
You should apply to undertake postgraduate studies either through:
Generally, postgraduate courses are not Commonwealth supported. Students usually are required to pay tuition fees for these courses.
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Loan schemes for postgraduate studiesThe Australian Government has introduced the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) to assist students pay for their studies. HELP will commence from 1 January 2005. The loans available for postgraduate studies are:
- FEE-HELP which provides eligible fee-paying students with a loan to cover their tuition fees
- HECS-HELP which provides eligible students in a Commonwealth supported place with a loan to cover payment of their student contributions.
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Currently using PELS to pay for your postgraduate course?
If you are using the Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme (PELS) to pay your tuition fees, the introduction of the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) may affect you.
From 1 January 2005, PELS will be subsumed into FEE-HELP. Generally, if you receive a PELS loan you will be able to access FEE-HELP under the same eligibility requirements as PELS.
See also: Pre-2005 PELS students
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Postgraduate scholarships
There are a number of Commonwealth and privately funded scholarship opportunities available to eligible postgraduate students to assist you with the costs associated with undertaking your studies or research. You should contact your provider for further information on these schemes.
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Further assistance
You can obtain further information or assistance from the following contacts.
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For information on... |
Contact |
| courses and enrolments |
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HELP Loans |
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
Telephone: 1800 020 108 |
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