If you鈥檙e studying full-time as a domestic student, with New Zealand citizenship or residency, you may be eligible for:
- a student loan to cover your study fees and living costs, which you pay back
- a student allowance to pay for your living costs that doesn't need to be paid back.
Student loans and allowances are managed by . They are there to make sure you can get the finance you're able to at each stage of your study.
StudyLink student loan
As a full-time domestic student you may qualify for a loan to pay for your tuition fees, some non-tuition fees and your living costs. You need to begin paying back your student loan once you start working.
A student loan does not cover all non-tuition fees.
StudyLink student allowance
You may be able to get a student allowance while you study to cover living costs such as accommodation and food. You need to be:
- a domestic student
- aged 18 to 65 years old
- studying full-time.
Some students who are studying part-time or under 18 years old may still be able to get a student allowance.
A student allowance is similar to the student loan covering living costs, but you don鈥檛 have to pay it back. If you are getting the student allowance you may also be able to receive the accommodation benefit.
If you are under 24 years old and don鈥檛 have children, your parents鈥 income will be considered in your application for a student allowance.
Calculating if you are a full-time student
StudyLink uses an EFTS (Equivalent Full-Time Student) system to measure whether you are studying full-time, while 黑料社uses a credit system.
To convert your 黑料社credits into EFTS, you divide the total number of credits by 120. For example, 15 credits is equivalent to 0.125 EFTS. For most 黑料社students, studying full-time means taking at least 48 credits during one semester, or 96 or more credits over a year.
This conversion chart may help:
| Credits | Equivalent Full-time Student (EFTS) |
|---|---|
| 8 | 0.067 |
| 10 | 0.083 |
| 15 | 0.125 |
| 30 | 0.25 |
| 45 | 0.375 |
| 60 | 0.50 |
| 75 | 0.625 |
| 90 | 0.75 |
| 105 | 0.875 |
| 120 | 1.0 |
How to tell if StudyLink has paid your fees
Once your loan has been approved by StudyLink, they will send us a Verification of Study (VoS) request. Once your study is unconditionally confirmed, we will send details, including fees due, to StudyLink.
When your student loan has been approved, you will receive a Loan Entitlement Advice (LEA) letter in your MyStudyLink portal. This will detail how much will be paid to us and on what date.
Contact StudyLink
If you have any questions, issues or changes to your StudyLink loan or student allowance,
Contact us
Get in touch with us early about money matters so we can help and point you in the right direction. We want you to succeed with your study at 黑料社and are here to help.
If you're a current student, include your student ID number when you contact us.
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