Financial Assistance Programs

Eligibility for all programs:

Eligibility for Loans

• International and local students may apply for loans 
• Currently enrolled in an award course or Unistart and your current teaching session has commenced
• Requiring assistance with course related costs or living expenses that will assist in supporting your focus on your studies and where current income and/or reserves in savings is insufficient to meet your needs
• International students are required to be 'onshore', living in Australia.  You will need to download a copy of your current VEVO status and attach it to the Loan application. 
• Local students may be considered for a loan if study-related whilst overseas, on a case-by-case basis.
• Students in their final session or completing a degree are required to seek pre-approval by meeting with Financial Assistance (call 02 9514 1177 for an appointment)
• Assessed by the Financial Assistance Service as able to meet proposed Repayment Schedules

Eligibility for prepaid gift cards and grocery vouchers

Vouchers are primarily to help with essential items including the purchase of groceries and OPAL transport credit.

Eligibility: 

• open to international and domestic (local) students currently enrolled and
• able to demonstrate low income:

A combined income from allowances (including Centrelink benefits), work and/or financial support up to AUD$1,200 per fortnight and have inadequate reserves in savings to meet essential needs.

• be currently able to collect cards from our UTS Sydney campus and
• provide a copy of the most recent 90-days of transactions on your bank accounts before or at the time of the appointment to collect cards (vouchers) 
• Note: Local and international students may consider applying for a loan if requiring additional funds for course-related living expenses

Eligibility for Financial Support Grant (FSG) 

Relevant to the Financial Support Grant (FSG) 

1. The FSG application is open to domestic (local) students; incl. New Zealand students who are onshore in Australia; Permanent Residents and Humanitarian visa holders;Must be enrolled in a UTS award course or Unistart 
2. New students enrolling for the first session may also wish to speak to us directly when applying for a Financial Assistance Program. This program will only begin for first session students who are continuing their studies after Census Date. You may contact Financial Assistance before or after submitting your application. Tel: 02 9514 1177.
3. If you are a continuing student: You must be enrolled in an award course and your current teaching session has commenced
4. You must be currently living in Australia. Exceptions may be considered if study-related.
5. Able to demonstrate low income:
   • A combined income from allowances (including Centrelink benefits), work and/or financial support up to AUD$1,200 per fortnight and have inadequate reserves in savings to meet essential needs.
     • Applicants above the $1,200 fortnightly income but within a close range of this amount can be considered on the basis of extenuating circumstances such as carer roles for dependents on their income, or other personal circumstances resulting in hardship. We ask you to provide supporting documentation to the extent that it is possible.

Eligibility for UTS Housing Rental Subsidy (HRS) at Yura Mudang:

• For domestic (local) students; New Zealand students; Permanent Residents and Humanitarian visa holders;
• who meet the FSG eligibilities listed above, plus:
• Applicants must have a current lease with the UTS Housing Service and be residing in Yura Mudang
• A maximum of 2 subsidy awards per annum (broadly representing Autumn session in January to June and Spring session from July to December) may be awarded
• New students enrolling for the first session may also wish to speak to us directly when applying for a Financial Assistance Program. This program will only begin for first session students who are continuing their studies after Census Date. You may contact Financial Assistance before or after submitting your application. Tel: 02 9514 1177.

Eligibility for Digital Access (Laptop and other hardware and course specific software and internet)

• For domestic (local) students; New Zealand onshore students; Permanent Residents and Humanitarian visa holders; Unistart students, and:

Able to demonstrate low income:

• A combined income from allowances (including Centrelink benefits), work and/or financial support up to AUD$1,200 per fortnight and have inadequate reserves in savings to meet essential needs., plus:
• who are currently enrolled in a teaching session of an award course
• and not commencing or in the final session of completing a degree, and not enrolled in a degree of 24 credit points or less. 

(You can contact us via our reception desk on 02 9514 1177 to arrange for a telephone appointment should you wish to discuss individual digital requirements and personal circumstances) 

Ineligible for all Financial Assistance Programs listed

UTS College, UTS Exchange (Inbound) and UTS Students on Leave of Absence are not eligible to apply.

Financial Assistance Programs in more detail

Loan: points and terms

• Flexible repayment schedules and no interest
• To assist with course related costs including add-on costs for unpaid internships/pracs/clinics/projects/excursions; or essential living expenses that will assist in supporting your studies
• A maximum of $3000 can be requested
• Repayments may be deferred for up-to 3 months and scheduled over a further 12 month period BUT must be fully repaid before you complete your course
• Loan repayment details are forwarded to the applicant on the Loan Repayment Schedule  after your application has been accepted by UTS, but before you sign-off 
• Contact Financial Assistance to request a 'loan extension' if you have reasonable reason why you are unable to meet the payment schedule
• Note: Please be wary of scams which offer to pay your tuition fees, bills and loans at a discounted rate

Prepaid gift cards and grocery vouchers:

• Call our reception on 02 9514 1177 to book an appointment with Financial Assistance to be assessed for and to collect vouchers. This must be an on-campus, in-person appointment.
• Show the most recent 90-days of transactions on all Australian bank accounts in your name. See the 'eligibility' criteria in the relevant para above. (Income and savings may be shown using online records or hard copy printouts when meeting with the Financial Assistance Service staff member). 

 Financial Support Grant (FSG): what to know

• To assist local students (as defined in the above 'eligibility' paragraph) with essential living costs; education-related costs—for example: required texts, placement/internship or project costs, text-book assistance and extra-ordinary support costs.
• New students enrolling for the first session may also wish to speak to us directly when applying for a Financial Assistance Program. This program will only begin for first session students who are continuing their studies after Census Date. You may contact Financial Assistance before or after submitting your application. Tel: 02 9514 1177.
• Grant awards, usually for $500, will be transferred to your nominated bank account
• Local students may also be eligible for additional support with prescribed text-book needs (select the Textbook application once you have logged in to the 'apply now' portal below)
• Support can be given for 'required' text books listed on your Subject Outline in Canvas 
• Note: Local students may also apply for a loan if requiring additional funds for course-related living expenses

• Note: Local and international students. You may request food vouchers to assist with the effects of cost of living increases and hardship. 

  .

Digital Access Grant: Hardware/Laptops; internet; software and other course-related technical needs

If applying for hardware/laptops: Appointments are essential. Call our reception desk on 9514 1177 to arrange for a telephone appointment or an on-campus meeting with Financial Assistance

• To assist local students with course required laptop or other hardware; software and Internet access costs. 
• Students who are eligible may be given a new Windows PC/laptop with standard technical specifications: i5 dual core; 16GB RAM 512 GB SSD; 14" with camera and microphone.
• If your course requires other technical specifications, this program can provide a higher technical specification profile PC/laptop or a maximum of $1,000 as a grant towards hardware.
• The Digital Access Program can only give support for hardware/laptop once-only for the duration of your current course studies
• Additional support of up to $500 may be awarded for software and internet access costs
• Note: Local students may also apply for a loan if requiring additional funds for course-related purchases

UTS Housing Rental Subsidy for residents in Yura Mudang

• Local students may apply for the Housing Rental Subsidy. You may re-apply for each 6-month period being January to June, and July to December.
• Housing Rental Subsidies are normally set at a maximum of $1,500 per half-year. Personal financial circumstances may be taken into consideration
• New students enrolling for the first session may also wish to speak to us directly when applying for a Financial Assistance Program. This program will only begin for first session students who are continuing their studies after Census Date. You may contact Financial Assistance before or after submitting your application. Tel: 02 9514 1177.
• Note: Local students may also apply for a loan if requiring additional funds for course-related living expenses

All Programs: Things to prepare before starting the application form

• We ask you to tell us about the circumstantial changes that are affecting your financial situation.
• Upload the most recent 90 days of income and outgoing transactions for each of your Australian bank accounts
• If you are in receipt of Centrelink you will be required to provide your Customer Reference Number (CRN) and a copy of your most recent Centrelink Income Statement.
• Provide quotes / prices / receipts for specific requests such as course-related hardware (e.g. sewing machine; camera) under the digital access requests; or material costs for projects under the Financial Support Grant
• You will need to provide your nominated bank account details in the application (account holder name, BSB and account number) for transfers. This must be an Australian bank account.
• Applicants for the UTS Housing subsidy will need to supply a copy of their current lease (copy of contract identifying you and the  address, the rent cost and the dates of the lease contract)

How to apply

Online applications are available for International Students and Domestic Students

• We recommend using Chrome, Firefox or Safari (as internet browsers) when completing applications and for the purposes of receiving correspondence from us when processing your application (Internet Explorer is NOT fully compatible with our online application software).
• You will be able to save and resume your application later. Un-submitted or incomplete applications will accessible for you to re-visit within each 6-month period. That is: On 30 June and 31 December your un-submitted application will be deleted. You will need to start a new application after each of these dates.
• If further clarification is required to assess your application, you may be asked for further details via the application email or asked to make an appointment with the Financial Assistance Service.

Online application 

Notice: We are updating our systems. The processing and transfer of funds for eligible new applications submitted after 4 April will experience delays till after 23 April 2024. 

For URGENT circumstances and requests for funds, please contact the SSU Reception on 02 9514 1177 and book a telephone or on-campus appointment with Financial Assistance. We can assist with prepaid vouchers and advise you of any updates.

Financial Assistance Programs - Apply Here

Once you log into the Portal, select Financial Assistance Application. Under normal circumstances, allow for 10 working-days for the processing of your application(s). Please take note of the April 2024 systems delays in the paragraph above!

During high-demand periods of February to April inclusive, and July to September inclusive may result in minor additional delays.

FAQs

How long will the application review process take?

• You will receive an acknowledgement email after your application is submitted.
• It will take approximately 1-2 weeks to process your application. Peak periods may lead to extended processing times.
• You will be notified by email on the outcome of your application.

When will I receive payment?

• Once your application has been approved, it will take approximately one (1) week for your payment to be made
  • Please ensure you enter your Australian bank account details correctly, to avoid payment delays to your nominated bank account. 

What if I have additional questions?

We understand that you may have additional questions in relation to aspects of your study. Please review the following avenues to have your questions answered:

For questions relating to:

• Financial Assistance: call reception on 02 9514 1177 for a telephone; Zoom or on-campus appointment
• Subject and course information - Admission requirements - Fees and scholarships, please contact the Future Learner Contact Centre via the undergraduate or postgraduate enquiry form.
• Course progression and study plans - Subject enrolment - Academic caution and sanctions - Exam related and academic progress applications - Leave of absence - Credit recognition and concurrent study - Graduation matters - ID card issuance - Student letters - Transcripts and testamurs - Help navigating UTS systems
  Please contact the UTS Student Centre and ASK UTS.
• If you have any questions regarding your status as an International Student at UTS, including visa-related questions, please contact internationalstudent@uts.edu.au.
• If you have questions relating to the Student Support Package or your application, please respond to the confirmation email after submitting your application.
• If you have general questions in relation to Financial Assistance and support, please contact Financial.Assistance@uts.edu.au. If you would like to discuss your financial situation in more detail, you can book an appointment by contacting Student Services reception on 02 9514 1177.
• If you would like assistance with managing stress related to your financial circumstances, you can book an appointment by contacting Student Services reception on 02 9514 1177 or emailing student.services@uts.edu.au.
• If you have questions relating to finding work and/or employability programs, please contact careers@uts.edu.au.