Approval process

Initial assessment

Monash Abroad staff will acknowledge receipt of applications as soon as they are received.

The Monash Abroad office carries out the initial assessment of applications, checking that the applications are complete and that the students have met the eligibility criteria, including English proficiency. In the case of exchange nominations, the exchange balance between Monash and the partner university is checked, unless agreement has already been reached before the nominations are sent to Monash.

Study plan approval

Once the initial assessment has been completed, applications are sent to each of the faculties where students have requested units so that their choice of units can be approved. Faculties are entirely responsible for assessing whether students have the necessary prerequisites and academic background to undertake their selected units, and the Monash Abroad office has no say in this. Specially trained enrolments staff in each faculty assess the exchange and study abroad applications but they are often referred to individual academic staff responsible for specific units. This means that a study plan may require multiple approvals in more than one faculty, a process which can take anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks (from the date the application is received by Monash Abroad).

Faculty staff may request course outlines and other material from a student's home university to assess the student's suitability for a particular unit. Such requests will normally be forwarded by the Monash Abroad staff.

Monash Abroad staff monitor the length of time applications have been out in faculties for approval, and follow up any which seem to be lagging, but we cannot move to the next stage until the study plan has been approved.

Offer of admission

As soon as the study plan has been approved, Monash Abroad will issue a formal offer of admission. This will be in the form of a letter, emailed directly to the student and copied to the partner university or agent, except for partners or agents who have specifically requested us to send offers directly to them. Accompanying the letter will be a list of the student's pre-approved units and a Monash Abroad Pre-Arrival Guide.

Acceptance of offer

The student must sign the acceptance form and return it by scanned email or fax to Monash Abroad within 14 days or the offer lapses. If the student has not already sent them in, the student must also send payment for

• the compulsory health insurance (see Overseas Student Health Cover below); and,
• if the student has applied for on-campus accommodation, payment of the non-refundable accommodation application fee (see Accommodation below); and.
• if the student is a study abroad student, payment of the study abroad fee for one semester.

Certificate of enrolment

Within 7 days of Monash Abroad receiving the acceptance and payments, we will email direct to the student a Certificate of Enrolment (CoE), except for partners and agents who have specifically asked us to send the CoE directly to them. The CoE is required before an application can be lodged for an Australian student visa. As the certificate is recorded electronically in the Australian Government visa system, it is not possible to apply for a visa before this certificate has been issued.

Timetable

The above process normally takes a minimum of 6 weeks and can take up to 10 weeks from the time Monash Abroad receives your application. (Please note that your home university may require you to apply many weeks or even months before they send your application to Monash Abroad.) We always try to get the Certificates of Enrolment to students as far ahead of their departure as possible but incomplete applications and delays in study plan approvals mean this sometimes takes longer than we would like.