Low completion and Commonwealth assistance
If you are receiving Commonwealth assistance through being enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place, using HECS-HELP or a full-fee paying student using FEE-HELP, and started studying in your course after 1 January 2022 you must maintain a completion rate of 50%, to maintain your ongoing eligibility for Commonwealth assistance.
This completion rate is not your WAM and it is not the same as your marks or progression within your course. For Commonwealth assistance your completion rate refers to the number of units you have attempted and successfully complete. The Australian Government refers to this as a Low Completion Rate (LCR). The University will undertake regular checks and let you know when you have a LCR and what you need to do.
A unit attempt is any unit, which counts towards your course of study, that you are enrolled in at the census date. For Commonwealth assistance eligibility, this test counts the number of unit attempts and not the credit point or EFTSL value.
If you do not pass more than 50% of your attempted units, you will lose your Commonwealth assistance. This means you will no longer have access to a Commonwealth supported place and HECS-HELP, or FEE-HELP, whichever is applicable. Any change to your Commonwealth assistance eligibility will be effective as at the next census date. This might be in your current study period or your next one. We will give you as much notice as possible, so you can make an informed decision about your enrolment. No change will be made to historical periods.
If you have a Low Completion Rate over 50% you have a couple of options. These include:
- Continue studying in your current course by paying upfront. If you were enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place, you will also be moved onto full fee-paying rates. The Government will no longer contribute to the cost of your tuition fees. When your completion rates improves, you will be able to access Commonwealth assistance again for future study periods. We will be regularly checking your enrolment.
- transfer to a new course at Deakin or a different provider. If you change to a new course, your previous completion rate will not carry over and you will be able to access Commonwealth assistance for your new course.
- apply for consideration if a special circumstance prevented you from completing one or more of your units, so they are not counted towards your Low Completion Rate.
Special circumstances
If a special circumstance impacted your ability to pass one or more units leading you to withdraw or fail after the relevant census date, you can apply for the unit not to be counted towards your Commonwealth assistance eligibility (low completion rate). This doesn’t mean your grade will be changed. It means, if approved, we won’t count the unit (or units) towards your completion rate.
You can apply for this consideration through Remission of debt in special circumstances. Any application will be assessed on the information you provide, information held by the University and the supporting documentation you provide. Please use the Ready to apply section below to find out more.
Ready to apply
If you have read all sections on this page, including the FAQs, and have your documentation ready, please answer the following questions to complete the correct application form.