Tuition Fees for Domestic Research Higher Degree Students

• 2012 Fees Schedule
• 2012 Indicative Program Fees

This information applies to Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens who are enrolled in fee-paying research higher degree programs.

Students who are no longer eligible for support under the Research Training Scheme may be liable for the tuition cost for their program. Students may pay their fees upfront to the University or, of eligible, defer fees to the Australian Tax Office via the FEE-HELP scheme.

How to Calculate Your Fee

Each degree program requires the completion of a number of units. To accumulate the necessary units, students enrol in courses according to the degree requirements for each program. Each course has a unit value and this is ten (10) for most courses at the University of Newcastle. A normal full-time study load is 80 units in any year or 40 units per semester/trimester.

Courses are grouped into a number of academic subject areas where the first four letter abbreviation at the beginning of the course code tells you its subject area.

• List of academic subject areas (PDF 38KB)

To calculate your exact fee, you should check the requirements of your program in the relevant program ehandbook.

• Undergraduate Handbook 
• Postgraduate Handbook

Then refer to the relevant 2012 Fees Schedule table where the subject areas are listed in groups.

• Domestic Undergraduate Fees Schedule (PDF 10KB)
• Domestic Fee Paying Undergraduate Fees Schedule (PDF 59KB) (including Non-Award) 
• Domestic Postgraduate Fees Schedule (PDF 13KB) (including Non-Award)
• Domestic Research Higher Degree Fees Schedule (PDF 16KB) 
• International Undergraduate Fees Schedule (PDF 16KB) (including Non-Award) 
• International Postgraduate Fees Schedule (PDF 16KB) (including Non-Award)
• International Research Higher Degree Fees Schedule (PDF 16KB) 

*The above example is taken from the Domestic Research Higher Degree Fees Schedule. It assumes all courses have a 10 unit value. If a course has a value other than 10, then the calculation needs to be weighted appropriately.

You can estimate costs for later years based on these rates. However, International Student course fees are adjusted regularly so it is recommend to ensure you refer to the correct Fees Schedule.

Indicative Program Fees 2012

Students enrolled in some programs have flexibility in choosing courses. Program costs are calculated on the assumption of typical courses taken for a full-time load of 40 units per teaching period (semester or trimester). Actual charges will be calculated based on courses selected and the workload undertaken.

The fees listed in the indicative program fee table linked above are in Australian dollars (AUD) and are the average price of a program per year. They are approximate values only. The actual annual program fee may vary depending on course selection. This means that if two students enrol in the same program, but study different courses during the year, they may pay different annual program fees.

It is expected that course fees will rise in subsequent years and therefore programs which take more than 12 months to complete will be subject to the increased course fees.