Paying for Fees
By signing your offer of place, you commit to enrolling at Media Design School and paying your fees. You will be liable for fees unless you formally withdraw from the course.
Fees may be paid by cash, EFTPOS, cheque or credit card (Visa or Mastercard only), or StudyLink loan (domestic students only).
Fees are inclusive of Compulsory Course Costs and GST (the NZ Goods and Services Tax - 15% subject to change).
Fees are subject to change without notice. Indicative fees for the first year of study are listed on the website, however the final fee will be presented in an invoice when you receive your offer.
By accepting an offer of place for a programme at Media Design School, you accept full responsibility for paying your fees by the due date. You are liable for the full payment of fees eight calendar days after course commencement, or after 10 working days for international students. You will be liable for full fees whether or not you complete your qualification.
Students suspended, expelled or de-registered from their studies as a result of not abiding by the Student Conduct Policy and Academic Progression Policy (including not meeting financial obligations), or for other reasons, are still liable for payment of their full fees.
Student Loan information for Domestic Students
About StudyLink and Student Loans
Domestic students are generally able to access a student loan through StudyLink to pay the fees for their qualification. If you intend to apply for a StudyLink student loan, you'll need to do so immediately upon receiving your acceptance letter from Media Design School, or at least two weeks prior to the qualification commencing. Here's how you do it: when you received your acceptance letter (you will be notified by email and by mail) contact StudyLink immediately and supply them with your details and your student ID number (included in the Offer pack).
About StudyLink Course Related Costs
You will need supplies and equipment associated with your course, such as a Wacom Tablet, visual diaries, and hard drives. StudyLink provides loans up to $1,000 for course related costs; ensure you apply for what you need when you apply for your student loan to cover your course fees.
Fees Free Study
If you're thinking of starting your academic journey with Media Design School in 2023, you may be eligible for fees free post-school training and education.
This means that if you finished school in 2022, or if you will finish school during 2023, you may qualify for a year of fees-free tertiary education.
If you're not a recent school leaver, you may also qualify for fees-free education, provided that you haven’t undertaken any tertiary education or training in the past.
FAQs
You can check whether you are able to access fees-free education by visiting www.feesfree.govt.nz.
Don't forget to look up your national student number (NSN) beforehand, as this will make it heaps easier to find out whether you're eligible. If you're not sure how to access your NSN number, simply call NZQA on 0800 697 296 (between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday) or contact them on the NZQA website.
Even if you are eligible for fees-free education, it's probably a good idea to consider whether or not you're going to apply for additional student support. Check out Studylink's website to find out about what the recent changes mean for you.
This scheme covers the first year’s study of our following courses:
- Digital Creativity Foundation
- Creative Advertising
- Bachelor of Art and Design
- Bachelor of Creative Technologies
- Bachelor of Media Design
- Bachelor of Software Engineering.
If you are eligible for Fees Free then we will take care of the rest and provide the data to the government. Our team will be in touch if we require more information from you. You will still need to apply to Studylink for allowances, living costs or course related costs, by visiting www.studylink.govt.nz.
You do not need to fill out the invoice form, it is just a part of the offer pack so you know the cost of the course. Our team will take care of the rest and provide the data to the government. Our team will be in touch if we require more information from you.
StudyLink advises that you should do the following: Log in to your MyStudyLink account and change the ‘Pay fees’ field in your loan application to ‘No’ (Note: don’t cancel your loan application completely if you will still need other support from the loan like the living costs and course-related costs).
Tips on Managing Money
Budgeting and Financial Planning
MoneyHub has a complete guide to student loans, student money tips, banking, CV and job interview tips, and guidance on what to study.
The following links also have great information on budgeting and how to manage your student finances:
Gain Employment
Careers New Zealand can provide information and advice to help you make good decisions about where to work, study or train. There is also advice on how to create a CV and how to apply for jobs.
Explore the Student Job Search website to find job opportunities to fit in and around your study schedule.
The Big Idea is a resource that helps with job-seeking, along with a general overview of what is happening in the creative industry.
There is also Seek, if you have a better idea of what you want to be doing.
And once you're a student with MDS, you'll find special opportunities occasionally posted on our Student Discord and Student Facebook groups.
Remember that all our bachelor courses are full-time, so keep you eye out for part-time and casual jobs so you don't burn yourself out!
Scholarships
Sometimes all you'll need is to take the edge off to give yourself a little breathing room. We have scholarships that cater to many disciplines, that you can can check out, along with some other options for external scholarship opportunities HERE.