Fees, loans etc for PR visa holders at Uni in Melbourne

Hello, please could anyone advise me if my daughter would be eligible for any student funding for University in Melbourne?

We have validated permanent resident visas in March last year and will be moving out in September this year.

She wishes to study law so I believe she has to get a degree in another subject before undertaking post grad law at Melbourne.

In Uk she would be eligible for full funding as we are on a low income so she would get the full grant and loan allowance.

Grateful for any advice :biggrin:

As a PR visa holder, your daughter will be eligible for a commonwealth-supported Uni place. These are 'normal' fees, subsidised by the government with a standard contribution being paid by the student. They are available to anyone living in Australia who is not on a temp visa (subject to the student being offered a place).

http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/csps/pages/student-contribution-amounts#2013

Citizens can use HECS which defers the fees. They can also get a discount if the fees are paid up-front.

PR holders cannot defer payment or get the discount so your daughter will need to pay the fee for each semester in advance.

I'm not aware of any further discounts available to low-income students. Some Unis offer scholarships for some courses, but you'd need to check the individual Uni websites for details of those.

Edited to add that your daughter could be eligible for Youth Allowance. Details here:

http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/centrelink/youth-allowance/eligibility-for-youth-allowance

If she is dependent on you, your income and assets will be checked.

She can apply to study law at several universities in Melbourne as her first degree - it is only the University of Melbourne which offers only a graduate degree. She needs to contact vtac.edu.au which processes all university applications of this type. She should also be aware that she will need fairly spectacular A levels...but if she does not have those, all universities offer a graduate law course, so all is not lost. It just takes a little longer.

She has been predicted good A level results and has offers from Cambridge and Kings College London but is researching her options in Australia.

It is really difficult to find out online about the courses and how much it would all be. Much more simple in Uk to figure out, hence asking all you lovely knowing people on PIO!! Thanks, will contact vtac

If she was to be granted a Hecs place she would need to go through the normal channels of enrolling in the latter part of the year like all the other students. Then the results of the students applications come out around Christmas. With law the Tertiary Entrance is usually very high due to the number of students wishing to do the degree. 99 would probably do it or an equivalent. However some students also apply to universities in other States as well.

Hecs has to be paid back to the gov once the graduate reaches a certain level of salary and is deducted as tax.

Law degrees do not come cheap they are one of the most expensive degrees once again due to the numbers wanting to do law.

Having children at uni is not a cheap exercise, I had to support both of mine until they were in their twenties. We got no assistance at all. A student can get assistance if parents income is low but it has to be very low these days. Also they have to pay for all books which do not come cheap.

Days of free university are long gone in Aus most of the pollies would have had free though interestingly enough. Aboriginals are the only people who have free uni.

If she was to be granted a Hecs place she would need to go through the normal channels of enrolling in the latter part of the year like all the other students. Then the results of the students applications come out around Christmas. With law the Tertiary Entrance is usually very high due to the number of students wishing to do the degree. 99 would probably do it or an equivalent. However some students also apply to universities in other States as well.

 

Hecs has to be paid back to the gov once the graduate reaches a certain level of salary and is deducted as tax.

 

 

 

 

Law degrees do not come cheap they are one of the most expensive degrees once again due to the numbers wanting to do law.

 

Having children at uni is not a cheap exercise, I had to support both of mine until they were in their twenties. We got no assistance at all. A student can get assistance if parents income is low but it has to be very low these days. Also they have to pay for all books which do not come cheap.

 

Days of free university are long gone in Aus most of the pollies would have had free though interestingly enough. Aboriginals are the only people who have free uni.

Just note that unless she is a citizen you will actually need to pay the fees upfront - thousands per semester.

If she is entitled to assistance in the UK ad has good offers (which it sounds like she does) it would probably be cheaper to leave her in place.

She will need the equivalent of A* in each subject possibly here. You will have just moved countries and say you are on a low income. The fees will not help and she could stay in the UK and go to internationally prestigious universities.

Except if she does a UK law degree and then wants to practice in Australia she is up against all sorts of problems as the two legal systems are very different.

Take a peak here http://www.qut.edu.au/study/courses/bachelor-of-laws

If she has an offer from Cambridge, then quite frankly I think she would be crazy to come out here.

The fees for Law are very expensive here and not many commonwealth funded places exist, so it is very likely she would be paying more. Only citizens can access loans for tuition fees. So she would need to pay all fees upfront at the beginning of each semester.

With a degree from Cambridge she can basically go anywhere and do anything. She would be better to study in the UK and then if she wanted to, do a post grad course in Oz.

Except if she does a UK law degree and then wants to practice in Australia she is up against all sorts of problems as the two legal systems are very different.

They're not that different. Only finally separated in the 1980s. Certainly not different enough to warrant passing up a chance to study law at Cambridge, frankly there's nothing in the same league here in terms of opportunity that will be opened up