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Support for Students Policy and Pass Rate Requirements
The Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Act 2023 passed Parliament on 19 October 2023. The Bill amended the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) to remove the requirement that students must pass 50 per cent of the units they study to remain eligible for a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) and FEE-HELP assistance, and instead, require higher education providers to have, and comply with, policies to support students to successfully complete units of study in which they are enrolled. These measures will take effect from 1 January 2024.
This means the pass rate requirements will continue until 31 December 2023. Students enrolled in units of study with census dates before 1 January 2024 will still need to meet the pass rate requirements to be eligible for a CSP or FEE-HELP. Students enrolled in units of study with census dates on or after 1 January 2024 will not need to meet the pass rate requirements.
Section 104-2 of HESA was not amended by the Bill and accordingly the pass rate requirements for Open Universities Australia (OUA) are still in place. In circumstances where a student is completing a number of units that are not part of a course of study at a partner provider (i.e. OUA is the enrolling institution for the student), they will not be eligible for FEE-HELP assistance where they have undertaken 8 or more units and failed more than 50 per cent of those units.
Additional information regarding what must be included in a Higher Education Provider's Support for students policy will be specified in the Higher Education Provider Guidelines. The Department of Education (Department) released a Consultation Paper to inform the content of the Guidelines and received 56 submissions from the sector. Draft Guidelines, incorporating feedback from the consultation process, were published on the Department’s website on 13 October 2023 and are available to view at Draft Higher Education Provider Amendment (Support for Students Policy) Guidelines 2023.
The Department is now considering feedback from the sector in relation to the draft Guidelines and is working to finalise the Guidelines in the near future so the sector is aware of the obligations in advance of 1 January 2024.
OS-HELP Guidelines
The OS-HELP Guidelines 2023 (the Guidelines) were made by the Minister for Education on 29 September 2023. The Guidelines contain minor changes to clarify certain matters including:
- Adding information that was previously in the Higher Education Administrative Information for Providers (‘the AIP’) but not in the former Guidelines. This includes information that must be included in the higher education provider’s OS-HELP assistance policy and clarifying the importance of ensuring that students must complete the OS-HELP debt confirmation form prior to a provider making a payment of OS-HELP assistance and including requirements on providers relating to these forms.
- Listing the countries where a student is determined to be undertaking study in Asia.
- Removing Chapter 4 of the former Guidelines and moving relevant information into Chapter 2 of the Guidelines.
Pacific Engagement Visas and TCSI Reporting
While the Migration Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the Pacific and Other Measures) Act 2023 passed both houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023,
The Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Australia’s Engagement in the Pacific) Bill 2023 has just passed the Senate. This Bill amends the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to extend access to Commonwealth supported places and the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) to Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) holders from 1 February 2024.
To support PEV holders access Commonwealth assistance (including HELP) and track the uptake, a new code has been added to element 358 in TCSI. Providers will be able to report the new code ‘P’ from 1 February 2024.
Resolution of Status Visa Reminder
On 13 February 2023, the Government announced that Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) holders will be able to apply for a permanent Resolution of Status (RoS) Visa.
Continuing or prospective students who have previously held temporary TPV or SHEV visas may become eligible for Commonwealth assistance once they are granted a RoS Visa, provided they meet all other eligibility requirements.
Students will need to submit suitable evidence of their attainment of a RoS visa before the relevant census date. Students will not be eligible for Commonwealth assistance whilst their application is being processed or are otherwise on a ‘pathway’ to a permanent visa.
More information on RoS visas is available on the Department of Home Affairs website: Subclass 851 Resolution of Status.
Reporting Requirement Compliance Activities
Each year the Department issues a Notice under section 19-70 of HESA which sets out what student information must be provided in TCSI, in which form, and relevant timelines. The Department became aware that providers were reporting student information significantly outside the prescribed reporting times.
In July of 2023, providers at risk of non-compliance were sent letters reminding them of their reporting requirements under HESA and advising that the Department would be undertaking active compliance initiatives. In September, the Department undertook analysis to capture all student records that had late reporting of data over 11 months old, as students may have been financially disadvantaged from making a repayment against their HELP debt.
Given the quantity of providers and students involved, the Department sought an indexation waiver from the Minister for Finance for affected students. The Department also made the choice to take a sector-wide approach, and issued compliance notices to 70 providers that had reported late loans, as this issue had impacted over 20,000 students. The Department will review providers’ responses to the compliance notice over the coming months and will notify them directly if any further information or action is required. This information will inform nuanced compliance activities moving forward. The Department would like to reassure providers that it does not intend on issuing compliance notices whenever a complaint is made, or a deadline not met. The Department will work with providers in the first instance to ensure reporting obligations can be met.
Estimates Process for non-university higher education providers
For 2024 the Department is trialling a new approach to FEE-HELP advance estimates for non‑university higher education providers (NUHEPS). The Department is cognisant that the timing of the estimates process, which follows the September variation, also coincides with upcoming enrolments and the end of the academic year. This new approach aims to alleviate pressure on providers.
An email has been sent to those providers impacted, which explains that the process for FEE‑HELP advance estimates for NUHEPs has been removed and there is no need for NUHEPs to prepare any documentation to justify their expectations for 2024. The Department will roll over the current year’s FEE-HELP advance amount to the next year, and the January to April instalments will be paid based on that amount. NUHEPs will have the opportunity to vary that amount based on the actual or estimated student enrolments as part of the March quarter variation process and the payments from May will be adjusted based on the March variations. The FEE-HELP team will work with newly approved providers without a current advance to determine an advance amount for 2024.
Reconciliation Process
The Department has completed the 2021 FEE-HELP reconciliations and advised providers of the outcome. This reconciliation did not include the previous years from 2005 to 2020 as per the usual process. The Department is in the final stage of reconciling the data for the years 2005 to 2022. This was delayed as a few providers had not completed their verification of the student liabilities data in time. We anticipate the reconciliations being completed prior to the end of the year. All providers awaiting payments are expected to be paid as part of the December pay run, and any overpaid amounts will either be adjusted as part of the 2024 Advance amount or invoiced.
Student Learning Entitlement Management System Enhancements
From 1 January 2022, the Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) provides students with 7 years of full‑time equivalent study (EFTSL) in a CSP. On 17 March 2023, the SLE Management System (SLEMS) and additions to the myHELPbalance portal went live. The SLEMS solution interfaces with TCSI to calculate a student’s SLE amount.
The Department is currently working on enhancements to the SLEMS solution, these include additions to TCSI Analytics to add reports to help providers manage the Student Learning Entitlement policy. Further Real-time validations (RTVs) in TCSI to notify providers of student SLE amounts are being considered and developed. Additionally, the Department is considering the treatment for vertical double degrees (double degrees that have undergraduate and postgraduate components) that are reported as a single course of study in TCSI as it relates to the SLEMS. In particular where providers do not report a vertical double degree as two separate Courses of Study in TCSI (i.e., a Bachelor of Science/Master of Teaching reported as one Course of Study). Should providers have any questions, they can contact: studentlearningentitlement@education.gov.au
TCSI Grandfathered Student Indicator
Changes to the TCSI reporting data element E392 was deployed into production on 27 October 2023, and affects units reported to the Department with a census date from 1 January 2024 onwards. The ‘0’ reporting code will no longer be available for these units, with providers now being required to report one of the following values under E392 for CSP units:
- 7 – non-grandfathered
- 8 – non-grandfathered and a professional pathways unit
- 9 – grandfathered
Attempts to report a value under E392 for non-CSP units will be blocked.
Study Assist Website
The Study Assist website is currently undergoing a re-design. As a first stage, existing content has been migrated onto a new platform and all existing links have been re-directed to prevent impact to functionality. The Department is expecting a re-launched website by the second quarter of 2024.
The Re-design project will involve undertaking user research with user experience and user interface testing. An internal review of content will simultaneously be conducted. The Department is also considering the translation of some critical content of the website into additional languages, for example, the HELP fact sheets. Providers are encouraged to provide any suggestions or feedback to inform the re-design work. In addition, if providers would like to be involved in any focus groups as a part of this re-design project, please email your interest to HEenquiries@education.gov.au.
2024 HELP Publications
The 2024 HELP publications (Booklets and fact sheets) are currently being reviewed and updated. The Department anticipates these will be published on the Study Assist website by the end of November, ahead of the new academic year. Content on indexation has been expanded to aid students’ understanding about when and how indexation is applied to their HELP debt.
Administrative Information for Providers
The Department is aware that there are sections of the Administrative Information for Providers (AIP) that require updating to reflect recent legislative changes to HESA. Policy areas across the Higher Education Division are reviewing content for currency and working towards publishing a revised version ahead of the new academic year.
2024 eCAF
The 2024 eCAF templates were released to the eCAF training environment on 26 October 2023, and an email was distributed to the eCAF developers group on the same day detailing the changes. Please email HEenquiries@education.gov.au if you are not registered to the group and would like to receive updates.
There are text changes throughout, and updates to the eCAF user guide. The three main changes in 2024 eCAFs are:
- Allow overseas residential address - this is only allowable for Australian citizens.
- Expand Academic Suitability to other FEE-HELP eCAFs, and the CSP/HECS-HELP eCAF. Providers are encouraged to add this field to your eCAFs and update your student management software as soon as possible from 1 January 2024, however it will not be a mandatory field until 1 March 2024.
- the Department will manage course and census date revisions once census date has passed. Departmental staff will also process all eCAF deletions and course or census date revisions where the census date has passed. This change will introduce a revised request process, including a template. The Department will be pulling together some information regarding this change and sharing it with providers by the end of November. In the interim, if providers have any questions, they can contact HEenquiries@education.gov.au
A reminder that Providers who use non-Government eCAFs must not change census dates, or allow any extension to a census date due to administrative error, without first requesting approval from the Department.
eCAF Stocktake
In 2022 the Department undertook an eCAF stocktake. The Department assessed all responses and identified common issues that affected a number of providers. These included: personal email address missing, census date missing, errors and/or missing information in the declaration section, and not retaining eCAFs for 7 years.
Where a provider does not use the Government eCAF, they must replicate the content in their non-Government eCAF. All text and fields for collecting information must be included. While the same information may be collected as part of a provider’s enrolment process, it does not exempt the need to have these fields included in the eCAF.
The Department wishes to acknowledge those providers who have been working with us over the last 6 months to ensure your eCAFs are compliant.
A 2024 stocktake will be taken to ensure ongoing compliance with requirements. Please reach out to us at HEenquiries@education.gov.au if you have any questions in relation to ensuring that your eCAFs are compliant.
2024/2025 eCAF Changes
The Department is looking at introducing multiple eCAF templates from the end of 2024. This will enable the future year form to be loaded into the eCAF at the same time the current year form is still being used (for example when the 2025 eCAFs are approved they can be released to production at the end of 2024 and providers will be able to access both eCAFs depending on their students’ census date). This will avoid the need to obtain Departmental approval to use a 2024 eCAF in December for early 2025 census date students.
If providers are interested in being part of a working group to support this work and to comment on changes/impacts, please email HEenquiries@education.gov.au indicating your intention to be part of the ‘multiple templates working group’.
Applications open for the Tertiary Access Payment
The Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) is a one-off payment of up to $5,000 available to school-leavers from regional or remote areas to assist with the cost of relocating for tertiary education (Certificate IV and above).
Universities are encouraged to promote the TAP Program to students from regional and remote Australia who have relocated or are interested in relocating for tertiary study in 2023. Tertiary education providers may also consider including advice on the TAP for prospective 2024 students. For more information about eligibility and how to apply, students can visit the Services Australia website at Tertiary Access Payment.
TCSI Update
For further information on TCSI and upcoming webinars and newsletters please consult the TCSI News Centre.