Smartie Posted September 11, 2007 Report Share Posted September 11, 2007 Hi there, Please can someone advise what is the average "after school studies" that the kids do and what is the average cost for Varsity. Here in South Africa now adays it seems that alot of kids feel that they have to attend Varsity due to the high requirements needed to find a good job. Is it much of a similar scenario in Oz?I have a 2 year old and a 14 year old so I have to think about Full day care for the little one and possibly Varsity fees for the older one so a rough idea of Varsity fees would be great as I know Full day care is roughly AUD 1000 per month.Pls help!ThanksSmartie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Hi there, Please can someone advise what is the average "after school studies" that the kids do and what is the average cost for Varsity. Here in South Africa now adays it seems that alot of kids feel that they have to attend Varsity due to the high requirements needed to find a good job. Is it much of a similar scenario in Oz?I have a 2 year old and a 14 year old so I have to think about Full day care for the little one and possibly Varsity fees for the older one so a rough idea of Varsity fees would be great as I know Full day care is roughly AUD 1000 per month.Pls help!ThanksSmartieHi SmartieWell, considering your oldest is 14 - should finish school by 17 so you have three years... If you are arriving here shortly and you get your PR before this three year period is up - you will not have to worry about Varsity fees... they have what they call the HECS program and the kids apply for this whilst they make application for Uni - this is normally granted and the kids get their uni education without forking out one cent..except obviously for books... Once they reach a certain amount in income - usually about $35 000 per annum - then they start paying back their HECS debt - how it is usually done is - it comes off their income before tax and then they get taxed on the balance every month - this is done automatically and is reflected on their payslip as HECS debt - this form of payment can also be applied for for the TAFE as well. So you can see it is relatively easy for the youngsters here... Bond University is generally more expensive and up until this year you could not get HECS for Bond - but that has changed. As far as not having PR - then it is quite expensive as you have to pay international fees and I am not too sure how much that will be..I hope this helps...Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzT Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thanks for that info Heather. I am in a similar position with a 14 yr old child and was wondering how the Uni fees worked. I was under the impression that the HECS program was only for citizens and we would have to pay, just having PR, so it's good to know that it applies to PR too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colton Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 (edited) Thanks for that info Heather. I am in a similar position with a 14 yr old child and was wondering how the Uni fees worked. I was under the impression that the HECS program was only for citizens and we would have to pay, just having PR, so it's good to know that it applies to PR too. As I mentioned in previous posts HECS is only for CITIZENS! I know because I have PR AND 1 at Uni now and 1 going to Uni next year. We DO NOT qualify for HECS and have to pay everything ourselves UPFRONT! My eldest is at TAFE, Technicon, and he is here on a student visa, NO PR, his fees are international student fees which are way higher than PR fees. The ONLY thing PR does for you is it allows you to apply for a Common Wealth Supported Place which is basically just a cheaper fee than the international fee but you have to pay this upfront each semester, THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT SPONSOR YOUR FEES UNLESS YOU ARE A CITIZEN. Even the Kiwis do not qualify for HECS.I was also under the impression that we would qualify for HECS, boy what a big shock when I found out the truth. Speak to the Universities direct, you will get the correct information. Unfortunately PR does not even qualify for FEE HELP. Basically you pay up front or don't go.I would like to know if anyone else on this forum has PR only and University going children, if so what are their experiences as there seems to be conflicting advice? Edited October 8, 2007 by colton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Heather and SmartieI am sorry to tell you but Colton is quite right, until you are an AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN, you have absolutely no chance of getting assistance for your children to study further after school with government assistance. Up until 2005, or for those who started their courses before 2005, they were eligible, but in 2005 the laws were changed and therefore you have to now be a citizen to qualify for HECS. You can check out the following link for yourself.http://www.goingtouni.gov.au/Main/FeesLoan...onsHECSHELP.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzT Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thanks Colton and Mara for clearing that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishermanswife Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 (edited) Hello There,OUA is the Unisa version here and certain degrees can be done through correspondence. I am on PR and will pay $610 per "subject" next year. They offer various subjects from various Uni's accross Aus. You need to be a citizen before you qualify for the Fee-Help/HECS.I have all the info if you interested in finding out more.RegardsFMW Edited October 9, 2007 by fishermanswife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJV Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 (edited) Unfortunately PR does not even qualify for FEE HELP.Just for interest sake, A PR is eligible for FEE-HELP to do bridging studies in the case of overseas trained professionals.PR also qualify for so-called "Student Learning Entitlement" (SLE) which allows PR's to apply for the "Commonwealth Supported places" that Colton mentioned. Once accepted, you then pay the same (lower) domestic fees that Citizens pay but without the HECS-HELP (loan) facility that Heather described above.Thus in a nutshell, PR's get to pay domestic fees (not the higher international fees) but you have to pay your 100% Student contribution up-front on or before the "census" date. As an example: the first year mechanical engineering at Uni of WA would set you back AUD 7 500 in 2007! Edited October 9, 2007 by JJV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest colton Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Just for interest sake, A PR is eligible for FEE-HELP to do bridging studies in the case of overseas trained professionals.Interesting JJV, none of my kids qualify for FEE-HELP so maybe for those STARTING uni for the first time, not bridging for already qualified, there are different rules as far as FEE-HELP goes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smartie Posted October 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Hi there, Thanks to all !!!Its not great news for me but will have to live with it.After how long can one apply for citizenship? Any ideas?As maybe my daugher could travel to London for 2 years and then study if that is what she really wants. The 2 years may help assist with her decision. All going well we may only be there around 2009 as we are only now applying for hubbies AIM to be approved and the wait for PR is a long one.Thanks again Smartie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJV Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 so maybe for those STARTING uni for the first time, not bridging for already qualified, there are different rules as far as FEE-HELP goes?From what I've read FEE-HELP is limited only to PR's doing bridging courses.After how long can one apply for citizenship?4 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaans Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Hi Colton,You mentioned somewhere that if you applied for PR and have a case officer you can pay domestic fees? Am I understanding correctly-how does that work? We applied for the 175 PR and I will be very relieved to only pay domestic university fees instead of international fees...(which is almost twice as much)I also understand you can apply for all sorts of bursaries if you have PR and also take out a student loan. If you are an international student there is few bursaries available and no bank loans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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