Eligibility for Student Loans and Allowances

Financial help is available for selected courses through StudyLink, the agency that administers student loans and allowances, and student hardship support.

  • A student allowance is a weekly payment to help with your living expenses while you study. It’s money that you don’t have to pay back.
  • A student loan can help finance your studies and is made up of three parts. You must pay this all back:  
    • Compulsory course fees- the cost of your course
    • Course-related costs- up to $1000 to buy study materials like textbooks, uniforms, tools, or a computer
    • Living costs- this is a weekly payment to pay for your everyday living expenses.

Applying early for your student loan and allowance will help you receive payments on time.

Eligibility for student allowance is impacted by yours, your parents’ (if you’re under 24 years old), or your partner’s (if you are both over 24 years old, or support a child) income. Refer to the StudyLink website to learn how income affects student allowance.

If you’re under 18 years old, you can’t get a student loan if you’re either:

  • In receipt of Youth Guarantee
  • Studying a fees-free level 1 or 2 qualification.

Residency Requirements

To be eligible for a student allowance or student loan, you need to be either:  

  • a New Zealand citizen,
  • an ordinarily resident in New Zealand and have:
    • lived in New Zealand and held a residence class visa for at least 3 years
  • a refugee protected person
  • sponsored into New Zealand by someone in your family who, at the time you were sponsored, was a refugee or protected person

More information on eligibility requirements can be found here.  

For any further questions, please contact StudyLink.

Course-Related and Living Costs

To be eligible for the course-related costs component of the student loan, you must be studying full-time and under 55 years old. You can claim up to $1000 per student loan account (generally 52 weeks).

Course-related costs can only be claimed when your student loan has been approved, and at the earliest, 14 days before your course starts.

To be eligible for the living costs component of the student loan, you must be studying full-time and under 55 years old.

If you are receiving a student allowance, you may not be eligible for living costs.

Please note: StudyLink’s definition of ‘full-time’ may be calculated differently from Toi Ohomai. For StudyLink’s full-time definition, please refer to their website.

Passing Requirements

If you’ve received a student loan or student allowance before, you must also meet the passing requirements to apply again.

Part-Time

If you’re studying part-time, you may only be able to get a student loan for compulsory course fees.

StudyLink determines your eligibility by measuring your EFTS (equivalent full-time student). You can use the EFTs table below as a guide, or contact us to confirm how many EFTS you’re studying.

Limited Full-Time Status

You can request Limited full-time status from StudyLink for certain circumstances and when you’re studying less than full-time to complete your course.  

For more information, please see the StudyLink website.