Fees and FEE-HELP Information

The Australian Institute of Management Education and Training (AIM) is an approved FEE-HELP provider and offers fee paying places within its postgraduate higher education courses. Eligible students may elect to defer all or part of their tuition fees by accessing the Commonwealth Government’s Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).

Our individual unit fees include e-books and are all encompassing. These unit fees are payable prior to the date of unit commencement, or within 14 days upon the invoice being generated.

About FEE-HELP

Terms

Approved Provider	A university, other accredited higher education institution that has been approved by the Australian Government to offer Commonwealth assistance (HELP loans or Commonwealth supported places) to its students.
Census Date	Deadline for various requirements, including submitting your Request for Commonwealth Assistance form, making any up-front payments of your student contributions or tuition fees and formally withdrawing from any units. Census dates apply to each unit of study.
Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN)	Notice from AIM issued after the census date detailing information about the Commonwealth assistance you have used for the study period.
Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN)	Your unique identification number as a person studying in a Commonwealth supported place or accessing a HELP loan. From 2021 CHESSN will be replaced by USI numbers.
FEE-HELP limit	The FEE-HELP limit is the total amount available to you under both FEE-HELP, VET Student Loans and VET FEE-HELP over your lifetime. For 2025, the FEE HELP limit is $126,839 for most students. The FEE-HELP limit is indexed annually on the 1st of January.
Unique Student Identified (USI)	The Unique Student Identifier (known as a USI) will be used to connect your student loan information to your personal details. If you are starting a course at ABS in 2023, you will be required to have a USI.

FEE-HELP is loan from the Commonwealth. The loan remains a personal debt obligation until it is repaid to the Commonwealth. The loan may affect a person's after-tax wage and may affect the credit rating of the person until the debt is repaid to the Commonwealth.

You may wish to seek independent financial advice before applying for a FEE-HELP loan.

Please also refer to the StudyAssist website for academic progression requirements to continue receiving a FEE-HELP loan.

Repaying your FEE-HELP Debt

Your FEE-HELP debt becomes part of your accumulated HELP debt. You must start repaying your HELP debt through the tax system once your income is above the compulsory repayment threshold, even if you are still studying. The threshold is adjusted each year and for the 2024-25 income year, it is $54,435 or above. Repayments made through the Australian taxation system are called ‘compulsory repayments’ and continue until you have repaid your whole debt. Information on the compulsory repayment threshold level and the rate at which you must repay your debt is available on the StudyAssist website.

Withdrawing or Deferring from a Unit of Study

You can withdraw or defer your enrolment in a unit of study at any time before the census date. If you withdraw on or before the census date for a unit of study you will not incur a FEE-HELP debt and you will receive any applicable refund for any up-front tuition fees that were made on or before the census date. For further information, please refer to our Higher Education policy on withdrawal, deferral and refunds found in the Student Information section of the AIM Business School website.

Special Circumstances

You will have a HELP debt for any units of study you did not withdraw from before the census date. If you have any questions about withdrawing, you can read Withdrawing from study on the StudyAssist website.

You can only apply to have your HELP debt cancelled if you meet 'special circumstances'.

Your HELP debt will not be cancelled for any units you successfully completed.

Your HELP debt will not be cancelled if you withdrew from study after the census date because you changed your mind.

Special circumstances

To meet special circumstances, you need to show that what affected you:

was beyond your control;
did not make the full impact on you until on or after the census date(s) of the unit(s); and
made it not practicable for you to complete the unit(s).

To apply for special circumstances

You will need to apply for special circumstances to AIM and will be asked to provide supporting documentation.
If you are not happy with your AIM’s decision, you can apply for an internal review.

You can contact AIM student support regarding special circumstances on 1300 761 700 or via email studentsupport@aim.com.au.

Eligibility for FEE-HELP*

You are eligible for FEE HELP if you:

Are either:
- an Australian citizen, or a New Zealand Special Category Visa (NZ SCV) holder who meets the long-term residency requirements, and will study at least part of your course of study in Australia, OR
  a permanent humanitarian visa holder (check www.homeaffairs.gov.au for the list of humanitarian visa subclasses) who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit(s) of study, OR
  a permanent visa holder undertaking bridging study for overseas-trained professionals who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit(s) of study.
Are enrolled at an eligible course at an approved FEE-HELP provider such as AIM by the census date
Submit a valid Request for FEE-HELP loan form to your provider by the census date (or earlier administrative date).
Read the current FEE-HELP Booklet.

*As outlined in the current FEE-HELP booklet available on the StudyAssist website.

Students should note that they can borrow up to the FEE-HELP limit to pay their tuition fees. The FEE-HELP limit is the total amount available to you under both FEE-HELP and other loan schemes such VET STUDENT LOANS over your lifetime.

In 2025, the FEE-HELP limit is $126,839 for most students.

Applying for FEE-HELP

You will need a TFN
You will need a USI
You will need to read the FEE-HELP information booklet
You will need to complete a Request for FEE-HELP assistance form by the census date

You apply for a loan by providing your tax file number (TFN) and by completing a Request for Commonwealth Assistance form. Before you sign and submit your form you must read the current FEE-HELP information booklet. The request for assistance form will ask you to provide your TFN. If you don’t have a TFN, you can give AIM a Certificate of application for a TFN. This certificate is available from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) after you have applied for a TFN. Contact the ATO on 13 28 61 for TFN information.

If you are a visa holder (i.e not an Australian citizen) seeking FEE-HELP, you will be asked to provide additional information relating to your visa status to AIM. You must provide an extract from the Australian Government portal VEVO that outlines your visa subclass, status and conditions. AIM will confirm the information from VEVO as part of the eligibility criteria for FEE-HELP.

You must submit the signed and completed form to AIM by the census date. If you do not submit your form on or before the census date, you will not be able to defer your tuition fees for that fee period.

There is no loan fee for FEE-HELP for postgraduate study.

Fee Schedules and Census Dates

The fee schedules below contain the tuition fees and census dates for the units of study which make up AIM’s FEE-HELP eligible qualifications. Please note that some qualifications may be completed online or on-campus depending on the unit or qualification. For students enrolling for courses commencing in 2020 and future years AIM Business School reserves the right to adjust tuition fees annually. For Higher Education students seeking Recognition of Prior Learning based on experience only, an administration fee applies per unit for successful applications.