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The Australian Government's Innovation Report

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Higher Education Loan Programme<br />

<strong>The</strong> FEE-HELP loan scheme helps eligible students pay their tuition fees at an approved higher education<br />

provider. <strong>The</strong> scheme is designed to help <strong>Australian</strong> citizens and holders of a permanent humanitarian visa to<br />

take up a fee-paying place in an undergraduate or postgraduate course, and <strong>Australian</strong> citizens or permanent<br />

residents to undertake bridging study for overseas-trained professionals.<br />

FEE-HELP was introduced on 1 January 2005 as part of the <strong>Australian</strong> Government’s package of higher education<br />

reforms, Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future. It replaced the Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme, Open Learning<br />

Deferred Payment Scheme and Bridging for Overseas-Trained Professionals Loan schemes, and significantly<br />

expanded the availability of <strong>Australian</strong> Government loans to higher education students.<br />

From 1 January 2007, eligible students can borrow up to $80,000 and $100,000 for medicine, dentistry and veterinary<br />

science courses towards their tuition fees over their lifetime. <strong>The</strong>se limits will be indexed annually and are substantially<br />

higher than the limit that applied up to 2006.<br />

<strong>Australian</strong> Postgraduate Awards<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Australian</strong> Postgraduate Awards (APA) programme aims to support postgraduate research training in the<br />

higher education sector and provide financial support to postgraduate students of exceptional research promise<br />

who undertake their higher degree by research at an eligible <strong>Australian</strong> higher education institution.<br />

APA’s are available for a period of two years for a Masters by research degree or three years with a possible extension<br />

of six months for a Doctorate by research degree. APA holders receive an annual stipend and may also be eligible<br />

for other allowances.<br />

Participating institutions are provided with funding for continuing awards and a notional number of new awards<br />

each year. <strong>The</strong> allocation of awards to participating institutions reflects their overall research performance.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are approximately 4500 students on APA scholarships at any given time. Many students receiving APA’s<br />

are also funded through the Research Training Scheme.<br />

In 2006, 1561 new awards were provided. In 2005, total funding for the scheme was $91.18 million. This increased<br />

to $93.12 million in 2006.<br />

From 2006, under the reform package Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future, the number of new APA scholarships<br />

awarded each year will be adjusted to accommodate population growth. This will ensure that postgraduate<br />

research opportunities do not decrease on a per capita basis as the population grows.<br />

More information about the APAs can be found at: www.dest.gov.au/sectors/research_sector/<br />

programmes_funding/programme_categories/fellowships_awards_prizes/australian_<br />

postgraduate_awards_scheme.htm<br />

Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarships<br />

<strong>The</strong> Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (Endeavour IPRS) programme was<br />

established to maintain and develop international research linkages. It aims to attract top quality international<br />

postgraduate students to areas of research strength in the <strong>Australian</strong> higher education sector and support<br />

Australia’s research effort.<br />

Endeavour IPRS are available to successful international applicants for a period of two years for a Masters by<br />

research degree or three years for a Doctorate by research degree. <strong>The</strong> scholarship covers the student’s tuition<br />

fees and health insurance premiums for the student and their dependants.<br />

Each year, new scholarships are offered to a notional 330 eligible <strong>Australian</strong> higher education providers who<br />

then implement their own selection of international student scholars in accordance with the Commonwealth<br />

Scholarship Guidelines under the Higher Education Support Act (2003). <strong>The</strong> scholarships are allocated to higher<br />

education institutions based on the provider’s performance in higher degree by research completions,<br />

publications and research income.<br />

In 2004, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 1165 Endeavour IPRS students studying in<br />

Australia. <strong>The</strong> table below shows the regions from which the students came.<br />

88 Backing Australia’s Ability

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