Student Loan

Student Loan
The Student Loan can help to finance your study. It's made up of three
parts - compulsory fees, course-related costs andliving costs. You
have to pay a Student Loan back.
On this page:
General Student Loan criteria
How long you can get a Student Loan for
Situations where you can't get all parts of the Student Loan
Reapplying for a Student Loan
If you study overseas
General Student Loan criteria
To get a Student Loan, you'll need to:
*.be enrolled on a Tertiary Education Commission approved course. The
course must be
*.full-time (or limited full-time with our approval) or
*.a part-time programme of at least 32 weeks or part-time, part-year
and at least 0.25 EFTS (to get a Student Loan for fees only).
*.sign a contract with the government,
*.nominate a New Zealand based contact person (someone who resides in
New Zealand) as a condition of accessing theStudent Loan Scheme.
*.be a New Zealand citizen; if you're not a New Zealand citizen,
you'll need to be:
*.entitled under the Immigration Act 2009 to reside indefinitely in
New Zealand and have done so for at least 2 years (i.e. have held a
residence class visa for at least 2 years) and be
*.ordinarily resident in New Zealand or
*.a refugee or protected person and be entitled under the Immigration
Act 2009 to reside indefinitely in New Zealand (i.e. hold a residence
class visa)
Note:Some people will not need to meet the two-year stand-down. This includes:
*.refugees
*.anyone who was sponsored into New Zealand by a family member who
holds refugee status
*.people with protected person status (under the Immigration Act 2009)
*.anyone who was sponsored into New Zealand by a family member with
protected person status (from 1 January2012).
From 1 January 2014,students who are not New Zealand citizens,
refugees or protected persons (or have not been sponsored into New
Zealand by a family member who was recognised as a refugee or a
protected person) will need to have been entitled to reside
indefinitely in New Zealand, and been living in New Zealand, for three
years before they will qualify for a Student Allowance or Loan.
Australian citizens are subject to these residency requirements.
This change applies to new Student Allowance and Loan applications for
study that starts on or after 1 January 2014, however there are
transitional provisions for some students.
Students who are currently receiving a Student Loan under the
transitional provisions as they did not meet the two year requirement
will continue to receivetheir Student Loan for period that it has been
granted.Note:You can borrow for up to 2 EFTS worth of study each year.
Students who have $500 or more in default at the time of their
application, and at least some portion of that amounthas been overdue
with Inland Revenue for a year or more, won't be able to get a Student
Loan.How long you can get a Student Loan for
You need to apply for a Student Loan each time you enrol for a new
period of study.
Remember: you will need to pay back each loan you take out. So only
borrow what you need.
There is a life-time limit of 7 Equivalent Full-Time Students (EFTS)
for Student Loans.
The life-time limit includes all study that you have had a Student
Loan for, from 1 January 2010.
Full-time students generally have study loads of between 0.8 EFTS and
1.2 EFTS for a year. For a full-time student, 7 EFTS is equal to about
7 or 8 years of study. Part-time students use less EFTS each year.
Once you have used any part of the Student Loan, such as living costs,
fees or course-related costs, the EFTS for that loan will count
towards your 7 EFTS limit.
You can use more than 7 EFTS in some situations including:
*.finishing a paper or course of study even if it takes you over the 7
EFTS limit
*.up to an additional 1 EFTS to complete post-graduate study
*.up to an additional 3 EFTS if you undertake doctoral study.
Generally, you will not be able to receive more than 10 EFTS of
Student Loan entitlement including these extensions.
If you withdraw from your course:
*.If you withdraw from your course, and receive a full refund of your
tuition feesbefore the end of that course, it is not included in your
life-time limit.
*.If you withdraw from your course within 30 days of the date it
started and receive a partial fee refund, it is notincluded in your
life-time limit.
If you withdraw from part of your course:
If you withdraw from part of your course (eg papers or a semester),
the EFTS value of the portion you withdrew from won't be included in
your life-time limit.
Find out more about EFTS
Situations where you can't get all parts of the Student Loan
If you are studying part-time
If you are studying part-time, part-year (less than 32 weeks) and your
course has an EFTS value of 0.25 or more, you can only get the
compulsory fees part of the Student Loan. Unless you have been
approved Limited Full-time status by StudyLink.
Read the definition of full-time for Student Loans
Read the definition of EFTS
What limited full-time is and how to apply
Annual borrowing limits for study that starts on or after 1 January 2013
Students are only be able to borrow for up to 2 EFTS worth of study each year.
Pilot training students are limited to borrowing up to $35,000 per 1
EFTS from the compulsory fees component of the Student Loan. The
amount of fees that a student can borrow is relative to the EFTSthey
are enrolled in. This means if a student is enrolled in 0.5 EFTS they
will only be able to borrow $17,500 for their compulsory fees.
Existing pilot training students who havebeen enrolled (but not
necessarily accessed the Student Loan Scheme) on a pilot training
course at any time between1 January 2009 and 31 December 2012 will
continue to have access to their full compulsory fees while they
complete their qualification.
If you're aged 55 years or over
If you're aged 55 years and over you are no longer eligible for living
costs or course-related costs. You are only eligiblefor the compulsory
fees component of the Student Loan.
Find out more about the changes and transitional provisions for
students aged 55 years and over
If you're in prison
You can apply for a Student Loan for compulsory fees and
course-related costs (and living costs if you're on home detention).
Talk to your prison educationofficer or contact us.
If you get the Training Incentive Allowance
If you get the Training Incentive Allowance, the amount you can get
for compulsory fees and course-related costs goes down by the amount
of Training Incentive Allowance you get (not including any Training
Incentive Allowance you get for childcare, transport or
disability-related costs). YourWork and Income Case Manager can tell
you more.
Situations where you may not be able to borrow the full amount for
your compulsory fees
There may be courses where we can only loan a portion of the fees
rather than thefull amount charged by your education provider. Please
check with your education provider if this is the case as you will
need to pay the remaining fees yourself.
If you are currently bankrupt or on a course already paid for by the government
If you are currently bankrupt or on a course already paid for by the
government (eg you're a Youth Guarantee recipient or enrolled in a
trades academies or tertiary high school course that is funded as part
of the YouthGuarantee programme, or you're on a STAR programme,
Foundation Focused Training Opportunity or a Work Focused Training
course) you won't be able to geta Student Loan.
From 1 January 2014,students who are under 18 on the start date of a
course (which is on or after 1 January 2014) that is a fees-free Level
1 or Level 2 qualification will not qualify for any component of the
Student Loan for that course.
Read the Frequently Asked Questions to find out more about this change
Read the definition of bankrupt
If you're on a benefit
If you get Sole Parent Support, SupportedLiving Payment, or Emergency
Maintenance Allowance from Work and Income, you can only get a Student
Loan for compulsory fees and course-related costs. You can't get a
loan for living costs.
If you get any kind of benefit, make sure you talk to your Case
Manager first if you are thinking of study.
Read the definition of benefit
Information on receiving a benefit and starting study
Reapplying for a Student Loan
You need to apply for a Student Loan each time you enrol for a new
period of study. Apply early, well before your course starts, even if
you're still deciding what you're going to study.
You need to pass at least half of all the EFTS of all your previous
study to get a Student Loan again.
Find out more about passing at least half
Find out more about EFTS
If you study overseas
To get a Student Loan when you're studying overseas your study
programmemust be approved by the Tertiary Education Commission and you
must be enrolled at a tertiary education provider in New Zealand.
The amount you can get overseas is the same as if you're studying in
New Zealand.
If you plan to study overseas, you will need to complete an Overseas
Study application and you need to complete a Student Loan application.
When you apply online you will get an Overseas Study application form
if you need one. Source from www.studentloan.com