Repayment Information
Students whose loan applications are approved will be required to repay the full loan amount within twelve (12) months. Repayments will be set at a minimum of:
- the total approved loan amount divided by 26 fortnights; or
- a minimum repayment of $10 per fortnight.
More Information For:
Students who receive Centrelink Payments
Students who do not receive Centrelink Payments
Extension of the Loan Agreement
Students finishing or discontinuing studies
In Default of your Loan Agreement?
Encumbrances
Students who receive Centrelink Payments
Where a Student is in receipt of a Centrelink Allowance or Pension the loan repayment method will be via Centrepay deduction. Students will complete a Centrepay Agreement with ECU enabling a regular fortnightly amount to be deducted from the Student's Centrelink payment and paid to ECU.
Students who do not receive Centrelink Payments
Where a Student is not in receipt of any Centrelink Allowance or Pension the loan repayment method will be via Direct Debit from the Student's nominated bank account. Students will be required to complete a Direct Debit Agreement with ECU enabling a regular fortnightly amount to be deducted from their nominated bank account and paid to ECU.
Extension of the Loan Agreement
In exceptional circumstances a Student's original Loan Agreement and final repayment date may be renegotiated. An extension to the loan repayment schedule may only be granted:
- once; and
- in the latter half of the loan repayment period; and
- provided loan repayments are not in arrears.
Please Contact us if you need to discuss any possible extension of your Loan Agreement.
Students finishing or discontinuing studies
Students who complete their studies at ECU during their loan term MUST repay the entire outstanding portion prior to graduation. For Students with not more than twelve months of their course left to complete it is preferred that their Loan Agreement is negotiated to ensure they have sufficient time to fully repay their outstanding balance four weeks prior to their graduation. Failure to repay the outstanding portion of a loan could result in an encumbrance on your student record which can prevent graduation from your course.
Students who discontinue their course of study MUST repay the outstanding proportion of their loan within twenty (20) business days of discontinuation. Failure to repay the outstanding portion of a loan could result in the matter being referred to a Debt Collection Agency.
Students will not be granted loans within six (6) months of their course completion.
In Default of your Loan Agreement?
Students who default on their Loan Agreement may be deemed to be liable for the immediate repayment of any overdue amount on that loan in addition to any payment-default fees incurred.
ECU will attempt to contact the student within two (2) business days of a default in the Loan Agreement being identified.
If contact is not able to be made within five (5) business days, ECU will refer the outstanding loan amount and any recovery/penalty costs incurred to a Debt Collection Agency.
If a student contacts ECU to discuss their Loan Agreement within 5 business days ECU will:
- determine whether the student has any extreme circumstances which have resulted in the default and re-negotiate the repayment schedule; OR
- make a determination whether the student's financial circumstances have changed and re-negotiate the repayment schedule; OR
- if the student's circumstances have not changed the student will be given ten (10) business days in which to correct the default, as well as any incurred payment-default fees. If the student does not make any attempt to contact ECU or rectify the default on their Loan Agreement, the matter will be referred to a debt collection agency.
Encumbrances
Where students default on their loan ECU will place a financial encumbrance on their student record until the default is rectified and the overdue amount is paid in full. An encumbrance may restrict your access to services provided by the University including computing, library access, SIMO access (re-enrolment/results) and approval to graduate.