If you’re a domestic student and undertaking tertiary study you may be eligible for a Student Loan or Allowance to help fund your tuition and living costs.
What’s the difference between a Student Loan and Student Allowance?
Student Loan
A Student Loan helps to pay your course fees, course-related costs (equipment/books required for you to complete your chosen course, travel expenses etc) and can also help towards living costs. You will have to pay back your student loan once you have finished study, Inland Revenue manages your loan balance and repayments.
Find out more about Student Loans
Student Loan
A Student Loan helps to pay for your course fees (the compulsory fees charged by your education provider), study materials (eg, books, computer, travel) and living costs, but you’ll have to pay it back.
Important information
If you can get fees-free study you may not need a Student Loan for course fees.
However you’ll still need to apply for a Student Loan if you want course-related costs or living costs.
- Who can get it
- To get a Student Loan, you need to be either:
- a New Zealand citizen or
- ordinarily resident in New Zealand and either:
- have been living in New Zealand for at least 3 years, and
- have held a residence class visa for 3 years, or
- be a refugee or protected person, or
- be sponsored into New Zealand by someone in your family who, at the time you were sponsored, was a refugee or protected person.You must be studying an approved course run by an approved education provider (but you could be based overseas).Check if your course is approved on the Which Course Where website
- If you’re under 18, one of your parents also needs to give their permission for you to get a loan.Returning studentsIf you’re a returning student you need to meet the passing requirements
- There’s also a limit to how many Student Loans you can get in your lifetime.Who can’t get itYou can’t get a Student Loan if you’re:
- at secondary school
- bankrupt
- behind on your Student Loan repayments by $500 or more and overdue on repaying any of this amount by a year or more
- studying for less than 32 weeks and your course has less than 0.25 EFTS. If you’re under 18, you can’t get a Student Loan if you’re either:
- on a Youth Guarantee programme
- studying a fees-free level 1 or 2 qualification.
- What you can get
- Depending on your circumstances, you can get a Student Loan for:
- compulsory course fees
- course-related costs
- living costs You’ll also be charged a one-off establishment fee of $60. This will be added to your Student Loan balance as soon as any payments are made.You can get a Student Loan for up to 2 EFTS of study a year (this is around 240 points or credits).What are EFTS?We won’t pay for:
- your lump sum hostel or hall of residence costs
- special charges, eg, penalty fees for late enrolment
- administration charges for paying by instalments
- optional service fees, eg, student association fees.Studying full-timeIf you’re studying full-time, you can get a Student Loan for:
- compulsory course fees
- course-related costs
- living costs.What are EFTS? In prison or on a benefitYou can only get a Student Loan for:
- compulsory course fees
- course-related costs.Work and Income – Studying while on a benefitStudying part-time or 55 and overYou can only get a Student Loan for compulsory course fees.Youth Guarantee programme or fees-free Level 1 and 2 qualificationIf you’re over 18 and studying a Youth Guarantee programme or fees-free Level 1 or 2 qualification, you can only get a Student Loan for course-related costs and living costs.
Have you checked if you’re entitled to fees-free study? If you’re eligible you may not need a student loan for course fees!
Student Allowance
A Student Allowance is a weekly payment to help you with your living expenses while you are studying. You do not have to pay back a Student Allowance. You may also be eligible for an accommodation benefit to help cover your accommodation costs.
Find out more about Student Allowances.
The Student Allowance is similar to the Student Loan living costs but you don’t have to pay it back. You do have to pay back the living costs, as it’s part of the Student Loan.
- Who can get it To get a Student Allowance, you need to be either:
- a New Zealand citizen or
- ordinarily resident in New Zealand and either:
- have been living in New Zealand for at least 3 years, and
- have held a residence class visa for 3 years, or
- be a refugee or protected person, or
- be sponsored into New Zealand by someone in your family who, at the time you were sponsored, was a refugee or protected person.In most cases you have to be:
- between 18-65
- studying full-time However in some circumstances you’ll be able to get it if you’re:
- 16-17 or
- studying part-time Your courseYou must be studying either:
- at an approved education provider in New Zealand and doing an approved course which is either:
- an undergraduate course (level 7 or below on the National Qualifications Framework), or
- a Bachelor degree with honours
- overseas through an approved education provider in New Zealand
- at secondary school.Check if your course is approved on the Which Course Where website Returning studentsIf you’re a returning student you need to meet the passing requirementsThere’s also a limit to how long you can get a Student Allowance for in your lifetime.Who can’t get itYou can’t get a Student Allowance if you’re either:
- on a study break for more than 3 weeks, or
- on a benefit that you can stay on while you’re studying, or
- in prison, or
- over 65.If you’re on a break longer than 3 weeks because of COVID-19 your payments will continue.
Payment
Application approved before course starts
If your Student Allowance application is approved before your course starts, you’ll get your first weekly payment in the second week of your course.
You won’t get any money in the first week of your course because we pay you in arrears, which means you study for one week and get paid for that study in the next week. When you finish your course, you’ll get your last payment a week later.
Application approved after course starts
If you applied before your course started, you’ll get a back payment to when your course started. This will be paid to you in a lump sum. You’ll then get your first weekly payment a week later.
If you applied after your course started, you’ll get a back payment to when you submitted your application. This will be paid to you in a lump sum. You’ll then get your first weekly payment a week later.
You won’t get your first weekly payment until a week later because we pay you in arrears, which means you study for one week and get paid for that study in the next week. When you finish your course, you’ll get your last payment a week later.
Applied for Student Allowance and living costs
You can’t get both the full amount of living costs and the Student Allowance at the same time.
If your loan is approved first, you’ll get the weekly living costs payments that you’ve asked for. Once your Student Allowance is approved, your living costs will reduce by the amount of Student Allowance you get.
Example
You’re getting weekly living costs payments of $239.76. Your Student Allowance is approved for $150 a week so your living costs will go down to $89.76 a week.
Back payment of Student Allowance
If we owe you any back payment of Student Allowance:
- this will be paid onto your loan first, to pay back any living costs you received
- we’ll put some towards any debts you have with the Ministry of Social Development (eg StudyLink, Work and Income)
- we’ll then pay the rest to you.
How to apply
Once you’ve made a decision to study, you can apply online at StudyLink for your student loan and/or allowance.
We recommend that you apply at least two months before your study starts, this will allow you plenty of time to receive your Student Loan or Allowance on time, and ensure your fees are paid on time (full details about application and processing times can be found on the StudyLink website).
For further information, please visit Studylink or phone 0800 88 99 00.