“An Extra Buck to Pay Down their Debts”: The Uni Surcharges You Didn’t Sign Up For

By Nuria Olive

With a raging cost-of-living crisis not showing any signs of slowing down, paying your way as a student can be challenging. Finding cheap food and drink on campus is challenging enough, but at least when it comes to paying SSAF contributions upfront, there are no extra charges… right? Well, new ANU surcharges are changing that.

As of 23 January, surcharges apply to card payments for domestic student fees. This applies to any card payment made through the Interactive Student Information System (ISIS), including tuition fees and paying for short courses undertaken overseas, which can cost thousands. 

Credit card payments incur a 0.88 per cent surcharge, debit cards incur a 0.38 per cent surcharge, and international visa and mastercards have seen a 3.37 per cent surcharge applied. An ANU spokesperson noted the purpose of these surcharges is “to manage rising operational costs”. 

There are alternative payment methods available that avoid incurring the surcharges. One such option is BPAY – an electronic bill payment system. Rather than punching in card numbers to pay, students with an eligible bank account can transfer their fees by typing in the ANU’s biller code (39545) and their personal reference number found on invoices in ISIS. 

Although many commonly used banks including CommBank and ANZ provide the BPAY option, not all financial institutions do. This leaves students with ineligible bank accounts to either create a new bank account which offers BPAY, or be faced with paying the surcharge. 

Students making payments from overseas also have an option to steer clear of the surcharge. A platform called Convera is a “more reliable” way to pay tuition fees overseas, according to an ANU spokesperson. Students can fill out this form to cover payments with Convera.

The ANU spokesperson further stated that “students who are unable to use alternative payment methods are encouraged to contact Student Central for assistance”.

Domestic student fees are not the only ANU payments which have had surcharges placed on them this year. The price of all items sold at Residential Canteens have increased by 10 per cent, which an ANU spokesperson stated “has been introduced to contribute to the operational and administrative costs” associated with “support[ing] the longevity of Residential Canteens”. 

Observer spoke to a student staff member at an ANU Residential Canteen who was informed that the surcharge “was to cover associated costs which had not been included previously”, including “administration, fuel and refrigeration”. 

However, they noted this “doesn’t necessarily justify raising prices by 10%”. 

The staff member further noted that at the end of 2024, their Residential Canteen had a “significant amount of excess funds” that they were expecting to have rolled over. However, they were advised that the ANU had “absorbed” the remaining funds and the Canteens would not have access to them. 

They further commented that Residential Canteens are supposed “to be spaces that encouraged community and provided cheap food, drinks and socialising – not places for them to make an extra buck to pay down their debts.”

An ANU spokesperson also spoke to the importance of the social aspect of Residential Canteens, but revealed that the Residential Experience Division found that “significant operational expenses” exist.

The spokesperson highlighted that the ANU offers financial assistance to students in need of it, and “encourages anyone with views on how to improve services” to submit feedback via the form on the ANU website.

Graphics by James Neal

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