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OS-HELP Loans

OS-HELP is a Commonwealth Government loan program. It provides financial assistance to eligible Commonwealth Supported Place students, to study part of their course overseas.

If you are approved to receive an OS-HELP loan for your overseas study program, you can use it to pay for airfares, accommodation or other travel/study expenses.

The funds for OS-HELP loans are provided by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
Monash Abroad administers the funds and assesses student eligibility to receive an OS-HELP loan.

The amount you borrow will be added to your accumulated HELP debt and will be repayable under the same conditions as your HELP debt. You must read the OS-HELP Statement of terms and conditions before applying for an OS-HELP loan.

If you are eligible (you should be meeting all the loan eligibility criteria at the time of your application assessment) and wish to apply for an OS-HELP loan, please submit your application as per the relevant OS-HELP loan term deadline, even if you have not been accepted into your overseas program by that deadline.

Late loan applications are not accepted.

Question	Answer
How much? (in 2023)	up to A$7,348 per six-month study period for study not in Asia up to A$8,817 per six-month study period for study in Asia supplementary A$1,172 to assist with the cost of language study, undertaken in preparation for overseas study in Asia
How many?	one loan per six month study period a maximum of two OS-HELP loans in your lifetime
Any fees?	no fees and no interest accrued on loans

What's the loan eligibility criteria?

To be eligible for an OS-HELP loan you must:

be an Australian citizen or hold an Australian permanent humanitarian visa.
Effective January 2016, New Zealand citizens who are Special Category Visa (SCV) holders and meet the requisite criteria, can also apply for an OS-HELP loan. Refer to FAQ 2976 for details.
be enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate course of study at Monash as a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) student
(Diploma courses are not considered as eligible course of study for OS-HELP loan eligibility)
be undertaking full-time study overseas according to the OS-HELP definition of full-time, which is different from the Monash definition*
have your overseas study count towards the course requirements of the Monash course you are enrolled in
have already completed at least 1.0 EFTSL (48 credit points) of the Monash course, for which you will be receiving credit for your overseas study
on return from overseas, you must have at least 0.125 EFTSL (6 credit points) to complete for the Monash course, for which you will be receiving credit for your overseas study
have been selected by Monash to receive an OS-HELP loan for a six-month period
have not received more than one other OS-HELP loan including from another higher education provider
have not received any other OS-HELP loan for a period that overlaps or coincides with the six-month period
have not completed your overseas study before applying for the OS-HELP loan

*Full-time study for short-term international study programs

Monash Global Campus Intensives, Global Study Tours, Global Summer and Winter Programs and Global Work Integrated Learning and Placements are generally classified as short-term international study programs.

For short-term international study programs, (other than semester abroad programs and intercampus exchange programs) a full-time load is calculated by a formula, as advised by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. This formula takes account of both - the credit points you will be attaining and the length of time of your overseas study. Travel dates to and from the study program are not included in the calculation. In general, the following are regarded as full time study loads for OS-HELP purposes:

24 credit points taken over no more than seventeen weeks of overseas study
18 credit points taken over no more than thirteen weeks of overseas study
12 credit points taken over no more than eight weeks of overseas study
6 credit points taken over no more than four weeks of overseas study

For semester abroad programs and inter campus exchange programs, your study period is considered full-time provided you receive 18-24 Monash credit points towards the Monash course for which you will receive credit for your overseas study.

How to apply for an OS-HELP loan?

Are there any application deadlines?

OS-HELP Term	Overseas program commencement period	OS-HELP application deadline
Term 1	1 January to end February	15 November (of the previous year)
Term 2	1 March to 30 April	15 January
Term 3	1 May to 30 June	15 March
Term 4	1 July to 31 August	15 May
Term 5	1 September to 31 October	15 July
Term 6	1 November to 31 December	15 September

What if I have missed the deadline of the OS-HELP term, I intended to apply?

Am I eligible for a supplementary Asian language study loan?

You can get an extra loan amount if you study Asian language in preparation for your overseas study in Asia.
The countries eligible for study in Asia are listed on StudyAssist.

To be eligible for a supplementary amount for Asian language study in relation to a six-month period you must:

have been selected for OS-HELP for overseas study in Asia for that six-month period,
be undertaking an Asian language study in preparation for your overseas study in Asia,
have been selected by your provider to receive a supplementary amount for Asian language study, and
have not yet completed the Asian language study before applying for the supplementary amount.

As a guide, the Asian language study may be considered appropriate preparation for your overseas study in Asia if:

the language is spoken at your overseas study destination;
the language study is at a suitable level, taking into account any prior study of the language you may have done; and/or
the language study is aimed at either providing you with general language skills that will assist with living or travelling in your overseas study destination, or providing specialised language skills relevant to your overseas study.

In order to be assessed for a supplementary Asian language study loan, you must provide evidence of enrolling in the language study, the duration of your language study and the language course fees.

Types of Asian language study for which you may be able to receive a supplementary amount could include language subjects undertaken at an Australian or overseas higher education provider or other organisation on an award or non-award basis.

However, you will not be able to receive a supplementary amount if your Asian language study is part of a course of study for which you are receiving Commonwealth assistance for the cost of tuition (i.e. you are a Commonwealth supported student for those language units of study and/or you are using a HELP loan to pay for those units of study).

Study Abroad

Study Abroad

OS-HELP Loans

What's the loan eligibility criteria?

How to apply for an OS-HELP loan?

Are there any application deadlines?

What if I have missed the deadline of the OS-HELP term, I intended to apply?

Am I eligible for a supplementary Asian language study loan?

How do I apply for a loan for my second semester overseas study?

What's the loan assessment process?

What is the basis of selection?

Are there any conditions attached?

How can I accept my loan offer?

When will I receive my OS-HELP loan payment?

How will my OS-HELP loan be repaid?