Commonwealth Support Student Contribution Charges and EFTSL

Student Contribution rates - 2014

Your contribution amount may be affected by when you began your studies. The following table lists 2014 amounts. Asterisks indicate variations, and are explained below the table. View previous years' rates here.

Note: Students enrolling in the University Learning and Teaching program (7375) do not incur a student contribution liability.


Band

Maximum Student Contribution amount (per EFSTL)

 3:
 Law, Accounting, Administration, Economics, Commerce, Medicine

 

$10,085
 2:

 Mathematics, Statistics, Science, Computing, Built Environment, Other Health, Allied Health, Engineering Surveying

 

$8,613
1:

 Humanities, Behavioural Science, Social Studies, Clinical Psychology, Foreign Languages, Visual and Performing Arts, Education^

 

$6,044

 

PLEASE NOTE: Some courses may be charged at a higher band rate depending on the course content.  The actual band for a specific course can be checked via the Handbook.

Notes

^ Education
From 1 January 2010, the maximum annual student contribution amount for commencing Commonwealth supported students undertaking Education units of study has increased from the ‘National Priority’ rate to the band 1 rate.
This increase only affects students who commence their program on or after 1 January 2010.

Pre-2010 Students

If you commenced your program before 1 January 2010 and were a Commonwealth Supported student for a course in that program, you continue to be eligible for the reduced student contribution amount of $4,836 (National Priority rate) for Education courses in 2014.

You are considered to be Pre-2010 for a course if:

  • you commenced a program of study before 1 January 2010 and were Commonwealth Supported in relation to that course; and
  • you did not complete the program before 31 December 2009, or if you did complete the program it was:
    • an enabling program or
    • the related program for an Honours degree you are now undertaking.


Calculating Student Contribution Amounts using Unit Of Credit (UOC)

Most courses at UNSW consist of 6 Unit of Credits (UOC). A full-time student will usually enrol in 4 courses per semester giving them a total of 24 UOC per semester. Use the table above to find your maximum student contribution amount per year (eg. Arts = $6,044 for 1 full-time year of study). Divide the yearly amount by 48 to get the amount for each Unit Of Credit and then times by 6 to get the amount for each course of study.

Example

Jane is studying a Bachelor of Arts. Using the table above her student contribution amount for 2014 will be approximately $6,044* per year of full-time study. Jane divides the yearly amount by 48 to get the amount per Unit of Credit than times by 6 to get the amount per course as follows:

$6,044 / 48 x 6 = $755 per 6 UOC course

*The amount that Jane has worked out is approximate as she is assuming that all her courses will be Band 1. It is important to check each course in the UNSW Handbook as not all courses in a program will be under the same student contribution band.


Calculating Student Contribution Amounts using EFTSL

Equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) is a measure of study load for one year on a full-time basis. At UNSW this is defined as 48 units of credit (UOC). The amount of the student contribution depends on the EFTSL value of the course:

Calculation

Note: Individual course UOC values are available from the UNSW Handbook.

 

 6 UOC  divided by 48 (total no. of units for a full-time year)  = 0.125 EFTSL
 3 UOC  divided by 48 (total no. of units for a full-time year)  = 0.0625 EFTSL
 8 UOC  divided by 48 (total no. of units for a full-time year)   = 0.167 EFTSL

Example

Ana commences a Bachelor of Commerce in 2014. One of her courses is an Accounting course, ACCT1501. The contribution for this course is $10,085 for one EFTSL (Band 3). It's a 6 UOC course, so it has an EFTSL value of 0.125, according to the table above.

Her 2014 student contribution amount for this course is calculated as follows:

 Commerce (Band 3):    

  $10,085

 

  X 

 

EFTSL value for 6 UOC course:    

0.125

Student Contribution:    

$1,260

 


Useful Links

Commonwealth support student information
Fees: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Paying Fees
Contact details
Student Contribution rates - Archive