OS-HELP: Funding Overseas Study for Australian Students
OS-HELP is the smallest of the HELP loans by population — only Commonwealth Supported Place students undertaking approved overseas study qualify — but for the right borrower it is highly useful. It covers travel, accommodation and incidental costs for one or two terms of study abroad, including language preparation in some cases, with terms similar to HECS-HELP for indexation and repayment.
Who can borrow
OS-HELP eligibility is narrower than HECS-HELP. You must:
- Be an Australian citizen, or eligible New Zealand SCV holder, or permanent humanitarian visa holder.
- Be enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place at an approved Australian provider.
- Have completed at least one equivalent full-time year of study in your current Australian degree before going overseas.
- Have at least 0.125 EFTSL of study left in your Australian degree after the overseas component.
- Be undertaking overseas study that your Australian provider has approved and that will count toward your Australian degree.
You can take OS-HELP for a maximum of two semesters of overseas study across your entire higher-education career — six months in a single trip, or split into two one-semester trips at different times.
How much you can borrow
For 2026, the maximum OS-HELP loan is approximately $8,549 for one semester (or about $10,259 if the overseas study is in a designated Asian country, which carries the supplementary Asian-language supplement). The amount indexes annually with CPI.
The Asian supplement is an additional $1,026 available for students undertaking approved Asian-language study or going to a designated Asian country for the term of study. The qualifying countries are listed on the Department of Education's Studyassist website and include most of East and Southeast Asia plus a few South Asian destinations.
What OS-HELP covers
Unlike HECS-HELP (which covers your university's student contribution) and FEE-HELP (which covers tuition), OS-HELP is paid directly to the student to cover any reasonable cost of overseas study. The loan is not earmarked for specific expense categories — universities are required to inform students that the funds can be used for tuition at the host institution, travel, accommodation, insurance, visa fees and living costs, but the student chooses the allocation.
How the loan integrates with HECS-HELP
OS-HELP balances are merged with your existing HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP balances into a single HELP debt at the ATO. Indexation is identical (lower of CPI or WPI, 1 June) and compulsory repayment uses the same threshold schedule. From a financial-planning perspective the OS-HELP loan is simply more HELP debt in your existing account.
OS-HELP does count toward your HELP loan limit. Borrow $8,500 of OS-HELP and your remaining headroom drops by $8,500. For most undergraduates this is immaterial — the limit of $117,720 (or $169,012 for medicine/dentistry/vet) is well above what a normal CSP accumulates. But for combined long-degree students who stack OS-HELP onto FEE-HELP postgraduate study, the limit can become binding.
Application timing
OS-HELP is applied for through your Australian provider, not directly through Studyassist or the ATO. Each provider sets its own application window — usually 6–8 weeks before the overseas study term begins. Your provider verifies you meet the eligibility criteria, processes the loan electronically with the Department, and pays the funds into your nominated bank account.
The Asian-language supplement
To qualify for the supplement you need either to be enrolled in an approved Asian-language unit or to be physically studying in one of the eligible Asian countries. Languages currently included are Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Filipino/Tagalog, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Malay, Sinhala, Tamil, Thai, Vietnamese, and several others. Your provider can confirm whether your specific arrangement qualifies — the list is updated periodically by the Department.
If your overseas study is shorter than a full semester
Short-term overseas study (less than a full semester) is normally not eligible for OS-HELP. The Commonwealth runs a parallel grant scheme — the New Colombo Plan Mobility Program — for shorter intensives, summer schools, and research placements in the Indo-Pacific. NCP funds are grants, not loans, and are administered through your provider in addition to OS-HELP eligibility for the longer formal semester placements.
Should you take it?
The cost-benefit calculation is essentially: do you value one or two semesters of overseas study at $8,500–$10,259 in additional indexed HELP debt? For most students the educational and personal returns are high, the marginal annual indexation cost is modest (3–4% per year on the balance), and the repayment schedule means the loan is only repaid once your income exceeds the threshold. For students already at or near the HELP loan limit, the answer is sometimes no — and the New Colombo Plan grants are worth investigating first if eligible.
Source: Department of Education — Studyassist OS-HELP eligibility and rates · 2026