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It is important that you read the following information about fees and enrolment. Conditions regarding fees vary depending on whether you are an Australian or international student.
The RTP is a scholarship scheme administered by UniSA on behalf of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education and Training. The RTP fees offset is a type of RTP scholarship to assist with course fees that would otherwise be payable by the research student. The value of the RTP fees offset is $25,000 - $35,000 per annum and this amount represents the Australian Commonwealth's contribution towards the cost of your research degree. Under the RTP Fee Offset, domestic students are exempt from tuition fees for a limited time. Students who exceed their allocated RTP Fee Offset will be liable to pay a tuition fee to the University on a daily consumption basis. This tuition fee will represent a proportion of the value of the RTP fee offset.
Under the RTP Fee Offset:
** The Research Training Program (RTP) Fee Offset replaces the formerly known Research Training Scheme (RTS). All benefits and conditions remain the same.
The fee for domestic research degree students who exceed the time allocated will be set at the equivalent of Student contribution amount - Band 2.
This is a tuition fee payable to the University of South Australia (see Enrolment information for more details) for the number of days you are active in your research degree in the relevant research period that you are enrolled in.
Tuition amounts for domestic research degree students who have exceeded their allocated RTP Fee Offset are calculated on a daily consumption basis. Both full-time and part-time domestic research degree students will pay for each day that they have exceeded their RTP Fee Offset allocation and are active in the research period. See further information below regarding the daily tuition fee for domestic students who have exceeded their allocated RTP Fee Offset.
Candidature consumption is stopped once the Dean: Research approves the thesis for examination.
If you are eligible, you are encouraged to apply for a fee-relief scholarship. If your application is successful, you will be exempt from the payment of tuition fees to the University for a limited time.
If you are liable for fees and do not receive a fee-relief scholarship, you may be eligible for FEE-HELP to defer some, or all, of your tuition fees. Eligible students are required to complete a 'Request for FEE-HELP Assistance' form before the relevant census date. FEE-HELP assistance forms are available at Campus Central
International research degree students either:
International research students who are full fee paying, including international students whose tuition fee scholarship has ended, will be liable for fees for each day that they are active in the research period, taking into account any leave that the student has taken and their full-time/part-time load. See further information below regarding the daily tuition fee for international students who are fee paying.
Candidature consumption is stopped once the Dean: Research approves the thesis for examination.
For administrative purposes, all research degree students are enrolled in programs, courses and non-timetabled classes, even though most do not undertake courses or attend classes. These courses are converted to a 'load' value known as EFTSL (Equivalent Full Time Student Load), which is a measure of the study load for a course in the research degree program.
The Unit Value for undertaking a full-time program at UniSA for a Research Period is 18 points and the Unit Value for undertaking a full-time program for a year (two Research Periods) is 36 points. All research degree courses have a Unit Value of 18 points and therefore an EFTSL of 0.5.
Tuition amounts for domestic research degree students who have exceeded their allocated RTP Fee Offset or international research students who are fee paying are calculated on a daily consumption basis.
Full-time and part-time domestic research degree students will pay for each day that they exceed their RTP Fee Offset allocation and full-time and part-time international research students will pay for each day that they consume candidature whilst they are fee-paying, i.e. not covered by a tuition fee scholarship.
Fees are calculated based on a formula which takes into account the number of days the student is active in the research period, the total number of days in the research period, and the student's fees for that research period.
Research student consumption is stopped once the Dean: Research approves the thesis for examination.
Membership of the UniSA student services provider USASA is voluntary. Students will not be considered members until they opt-in via the myUniSA student portal.
Student and Academic Services (SAS) enrols all research degree commencing students.
Research degree continuing students are automatically enrolled each year and will remain enrolled in each calendar year following their initial enrolment until:
Research degree students are enrolled in a Research Period 1 and Research Period 3 enrolment pattern, or a Research Period 2 and Research Period 4 enrolment pattern. This will depend upon the initial enrolment date. You will be advised of your Research Period enrolment pattern in your enrolment letter.
Research Periods Dates:
Research Period |
Dates |
Research Period 1 |
January 1 - June 30 |
Research Period 2 |
April 1 - September 30 |
Research Period 3 |
July 1 - December 31 |
Research Period 4 |
October 1 - March 31 |
All research degree students should check their enrolment on myUniSA. If you have any queries about your enrolment, please email research.students@unisa.edu.au
The Australian Government requires that a reporting date be determined for each Unit of Study being offered in an academic year. These are known as 'census dates' and the University is required to report the student load to the government on those dates.
Research Period Census Dates:
Research Period |
Census Date |
Research Period 1 |
April 19 |
Research Period 2 |
July 19 |
Research Period 3 |
October 19 |
Research Period 4 |
31 December |
* Please note: 'domestic' refers to Australian and New Zealand citizens and permanent residents of Australia