27Requirements for determining fees for overseas students

27 Requirements for determining fees for overseas students

(1) For the purposes of paragraph 19-102(3)(d) of the Act, when determining the fee for an overseas student, a higher education provider must meet the following requirements in respect of all overseas students other than those students excluded under subsection 28(1): (a) the provider must charge as a minimum, a fee sufficient to recover the full cost of providing a course to an overseas student. Without limiting the meaning of full cost, it includes: (i) full operating costs, including equipment costs. Account should be taken not only of directly associated staff costs, but also all overheads (including but not limited to, utilities, rent and marketing costs) and common services costs (including but not limited to, libraries and the provision of services required under the National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000); and (ii) full capital costs. For fee calculation purposes, the current average cost per place of providing capital facilities for the course in question should be determined by the provider. A capital component of the fee will not need to be taken into account where the necessary capital facilities are provided by a third party. (b) The fee must be no less than those shown for the relevant category of courses in the schedule of minimum indicative course fees, which forms part of these Guidelines, except where: (i) a course is provided wholly off-shore and students will not at any stage enter Australia for study; or (ii) approval has been given by the Department to charge less than the minimum indicative fee for a course. (c) Where the requirements of subparagraph (1)(b)(i) or subparagraph (1)(b)(ii) are satisfied in relation to a course no minimum indicative fee will apply. However, the higher education provider must be able to demonstrate to the Department that the fee proposed will recover at least the full cost of providing the course in accordance with paragraph (1)(a). (d) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), the minimum indicative course fee for the relevant category of course is: (i) where, in accordance with subparagraph (1)(a)(ii), the capital component of the fee is not taken into account because the necessary capital facilities are provided by a third party, the amount in the column headed Total without capital component; or (ii) in all other circumstances, the amount in the column headed Total with capital component.