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Monash University Calendar
Regulations
Student
Loans regulations
Regulations made pursuant to Statute 2.8 - Students' Loan Fund
Part I - General
1. Interpretation
In these regulations, unless a contrary intention appears -
"campus" means one or all of the campuses of Berwick, Clayton, Caulfield, Gippsland,
Parkville and Peninsula, as the case requires;
"director" means the director of Health, Wellbeing and Development;
"loan" means a loan to a student from the Students’ Loan Fund established
by Statute 2.8 - Students' Loan Fund;
"Student Loans Committee " means the Student Loans Committee established by Statute
2.8 - Students' Loan Fund;
2. Meetings
Subject to these regulations, Statute 1.2 - Meetings applies
to the meetings of the Student Loans Committee and the campus loan
committees.
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Part
II - Loans committees and student advisers
3. Student Loans Committee
3.1 The Student Loans Committee consists of -
3.1.1 a nominee of the Council, who is chair of
the committee;
3.1.2 the director;
3.1.3
at least one student adviser from each campus
-
and other members as determined by the committee.
3.2 A quorum for a meeting of the committee is six members.
3.3 The Student Loans Committee -
3.3.1 must determine an annual budget for the Students' Loan
Fund; and
3.3.2 may make allocations from the Students' Loan
Fund to the campus loans committees and the student advisers.
4. Campus loans committees and student advisers
4.1 There must be a campus loans committee and
one or more student advisers
on each campus.
4.2 Despite anything in the regulations, the campus loans
committees and student advisers are subject to the direction and
authority of the Student Loans Committee.
5. Campus loans committees
5.1 A campus loans committee must include -
5.1.1 from the particular campus -
5.1.1.1 the manager of Health, Wellbeing and Development;
5.1.1.2
at least one student adviser; and
5.1.2 a person with a social work qualification or with
experience in financial planning or advice -
and may include -
5.1.3 a student nominated annually by the student
association on the campus; and
5.1.4 other members as determined by the committee.
5.2 A quorum for a meeting of a campus loans committee is
three members.
5.3 At its first meeting, and thereafter annually, a campus
loans committee must elect one of its members to be chair of the committee.
5.4
The student adviser member or, where there is more than one, the student adviser
member nominated by the committee
is the secretary
and convener of the committee.
5.5 A campus loans committee -
5.5.1 may grant loans to students of not less than $1,500
and not more than $3,000 or, with the approval of the Student Loans Committee
$5,000;
5.5.2 subject to the overriding authority and control of
the Student Loans Committee, is responsible for the activities of the campus
student advisers under these regulations
; and
5.5.3 must report every two months to the Student Loans
Committee on its activities and those of the campus student
advisers under these regulations
.
6. Student advisers
6.1
One or more student advisers must be appointed for each particular campus by
the director.
6.2 A campus student adviser -
6.2.1 may grant loans to students on the campus of not more
than $750 or, in conjunction with one other member of the campus loans committee
$1,500; and
6.2.2
must report to each meeting of the campus loans committee on his or her activities
under these regulations.
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Part III - Student Loans
7. Loan authority
In this part, unless a contrary intention appears,"loan
authority" means the relevant campus loans committee or campus
student adviser as the case requires, depending on the amount
of the loan or potential loan concerned.
8. Loan eligibility
8.1 A student is eligible for a loan where the
loan authority is satisfied that the student -
8.1.1 has good prospects of completing the course of study
in which the student is enrolled ;
and
8.1.2 requires assistance for or towards subsistence, essential
course materials or other expenditure of a nature which in the opinion of
the loan authority is highly desirable for the academic progress of the student.
8.2 Except in circumstances deemed exceptional by the loan
authority, a loan must not be granted -
8.2.1 subject to subsection 8.3, to a first year undergraduate
student in the student's first semester of study;
8.2.2 for Commonwealth supported place charges;
8.2.3 tuition fees;
8.2.4 to an international student for visa charges; or
8.2.5 for debts incurred before enrolling at the university.
8.3 A loan may be made to a first year student in the student's
first semester of study for short term assistance pending receipt of a government
study allowance.
9. Loan requirements
9.1 Subject to these regulations -
9.1.1 a loan may be for a period of no more than three years;
9.1.2 a loan is subject to terms and conditions determined
by the loan authority;
9.1.3 the student must sign a loan agreement in a form approved
by the loan authority; and
9.1.4 subject to subsection 9.2, a loan exceeding $750,
must be supported by a guarantee in a form and signed by a guarantor approved
by the loan authority.
9.2 A loan authority may forego the guarantee on a loan
not exceeding $1,000 -
9.2.1 to an international student, on condition that the
loan is repaid within 12 months or prior to graduation, whichever first
occurs; or
9.2.2 to a student, not being an international student,
where the committee is satisfied that the student is in dire financial
need and that exceptional circumstances preclude the provision of an acceptable
guarantee.
10. Repayment
10.1 A loan is repayable on -
10.1.1 the repayment date specified in the loan agreement;
or
10.1.2 the date the student ceases to be a student -
whichever first occurs.
10.2 For the purposes of paragraph 10.1.1, a student -
10.2.1 who completes his or her course of study and does not
enrol for a course of study or a unit in a course of study in the following
semester, ceases to be a student on -
10.2.1.1 the last day of the semester of completion; or
10.2.1.2 where the student has a deferred or supplementary
assessment, on the date of publication of the results of that assessment;
or
10.2.2 whose studies are for any reason discontinued before
completion, ceases to be a student on the official university date of discontinuation.
11. Interest
11.1 A loan has an initial interest free period of 12 months.
11.2. After the interest free period, a loan may, at the
discretion of the Student Loans Committee, be subject to interest as provided
in this section.
11.3 The rate of interest payable on a loan -
11.3.1 is 2 per cent below the long term bond rate, provided
that the maximum rate is 13.75 per cent per annum; and
11.3.2 must be set on an annual basis by the Student Loans
Committee, provided that, in the event of a substantial movement in interest
rates during any year, the rate of interest payable may be revised by
the committee.
11.4 Where the rate of interest is revised under subsection
11.3 the revised rate applies only to loans taken out after the revision.
11.5 Upon a student's written application, the
Student Loans Committee may, in circumstances it considers exceptional,
permit the student to pay a specified reduced rate of interest for such
period as the committee determines.
11.6 Where any loan repayments are outstanding after
the final repayment date, a penalty rate of interest of 5 per cent above
the long term bond rate may, at the discretion of the Student Loans Committee,
be payable on the amount outstanding.
11.7 Interest payable under this section must be calculated
on the daily balance owing and charged monthly until the loan is discharged.
11.8 In this section "long-term bond rate" means the
market rate, as published in the Australian Financial Review or similar
publication, issued by the Commonwealth of Australia for bonds that have
a maturity date nearest to 10 years from the date of the setting of the
applicable interest rate for the purposes of these regulations.
12. Sanctions
A student who has failed to repay a loan, including interest,
by the repayment date may not
obtain a transcript of academic record, re-enrol or graduate
except where the director, in circumstances he or she deems exceptional, otherwise
determines .
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