There is a cap on what you can borrow from the Australian Government through Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loans to pay for your study. This cap is called your HELP loan limit.
What's on this page
HELP loan limit amount
Your HELP loan limit depends on what you are studying, and the limit is set by the government each year.
For 2024, the HELP loan limit for most students is $121,844.
The limit for students studying medicine, dentistry and veterinary science courses leading to initial registration, or eligible aviation courses with census dates in 2024 is $174,998.
Find the list of eligible aviation courses in the FEE-HELP Guidelines 2017 available on the Federal Register of Legislation website.
Do the HELP loan limits ever change?
The HELP loan limit is set in legislation and is indexed on 1 January each year which increases the amount available.
Your available HELP balance
Your available HELP balance is the amount you are still able to borrow under the HELP loan limit.
Taking out a HELP loan will reduce your available HELP balance and making HELP debt repayments will increase your available HELP balance.
Where do I find my available HELP balance?
You can view your available HELP balance through the myHELPbalance website.
Useful links and resources
Your available HELP balance is calculated using the HELP loan limit that applies to you:
- minus your FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP and VSL borrowing
- minus any HECS-HELP loan borrowing from 1 January 2020
- plus any repayments you made through the ATO from 1 July 2019 onwards.
Your HELP loan limit includes:
- All FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP, VET Students Loans.
- HECS-HELP loans with a census date from 1 January 2020.
Your HELP loan limit does not include:
- HECS-HELP loans with a census date before 1 January 2020
- SA-HELP
- OS-HELP
- Loan fees associated with FEE-HELP loans.
What if I don't have enough HELP balance to cover my fees?
If you enrol in a unit of study and your tuition fees are more than your available HELP balance, you must pay the outstanding amount upfront to your provider.
If you didn't have enough HELP balance to pay for your study by the census date, and you didn't pay upfront:
- For FEE-HELP students, you would owe the amount directly to your provider.
- For HECS-HELP students, your CSP would be cancelled or suspended.
What repayments top up my HELP balance?
You can top up your available HELP balance by making repayments on your HELP debt.
This will allow you to borrow that amount again in the future by increasing your available HELP balance.
Any voluntary repayments you make will top up your HELP balance as soon as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) tells the Department of Education about your repayments.
Any compulsory repayments will top up your HELP balance once you have completed your tax return and the ATO notifies the Department about any repayments you made on your HELP debt.
Your fortnightly pay as you go (PAYG) repayments will not impact your HELP balance until you complete your annual tax return, and it is processed by the ATO.
Your repayment information is not reflected in your HELP balance immediately.
On or around day 15 of the month, the ATO transfer information to the Department on all voluntary and compulsory repayments made to HELP debts in the preceding month.
Once this repayment information is received by the Department, your available HELP balance in myHELPbalance will be updated.
For example
Liam made a $1,700 voluntary repayment to his HELP debt on 3 February. This amount was applied to this HELP debt once the repayment is received by the ATO. Liam’s available HELP balance was not updated until 15 March when the ATO provided the repayment information to the Department.
Useful links and resources
The myHELPbalance website will not show your current HELP debt. You check your HELP debt via ATO online services linked to your myGov account or by contacting the ATO on 13 28 61.
Find out more about making repayments loan repayments.