Cost of Studying in Australia for Indian Students 2026

Most Indian students who want to go to Australia only think about the cost of school. That makes sense, but it really hurts families. About 40 to 55 per cent of your total spending goes to school costs each year. You may have to pay the rest of the costs before your visa is approved.

The total cost of going to school in Australia includes the following:

• Tuition Fees: Most of the money will go toward tuition fees. These are unique depending on the level of university, the program, and the field of study. It costs almost twice as much to obtain a Master of IT at a university in the Group of Eight as at a regional university.
• Cost of Living: The cost of living includes things like housing, food, transportation, utilities, and personal costs. The cost is unique in each city. For the same degree, a student in inner Sydney spends about ₹35,000 to ₹45,000 more a month than a student in Adelaide.
• Student Visa Fees: From July 1, 2025, the fee for a student visa (Subclass 500) will be ₹1,30,200 (AUD 2,000). This is a one-time fee that can't be returned. In the last two years, it has gone up twice as much.
• Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC): As a student in Australia, you are required to have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) before you can apply for your visa. Costs vary by provider and length of time.
• Pre-arrival costs: Before you get to Australia, you have to pay for things like an application fee, an IELTS or PTE exam, a courier service, paperwork, and your flight.
• Post-study work visa (Subclass 485): The Temporary Graduate Visa now costs ₹2,99,460 (AUD 4,600) if you want to stay and work in Australia after you graduate. This change took effect on March 1, 2026. This is a high cost for planning that most students don't think about until after they graduate.

By familiarizing yourself with these categories in advance, you can avoid being surprised six months prior to your trip. We provide a detailed breakdown of each of these categories below.

In 2026, the total cost for an Indian student to study in Australia ranges from about Rs. 22 lakh to Rs. 60 lakh per year, depending on the city, program, and university level. There is a lot of room in this range, and you can pretty much choose where you fall.

In the table below, you can see what a normal first-year Master's student should budget for at three different amounts of money.

Note: INR conversions are based on an approximate exchange rate of 1 AUD = 65.33 INR

Counselor insight: There was no warning before March 1, 2026, but the fee for a Subclass 485 post-study work visa went up to ₹2,99,460 (AUD 4,600). This fee is paid after graduation and isn't part of the money required for college admission, but most students overlook it in their plans. If you want to stay in Australia and work after you graduate, you should consider that now, not when you are applying in two years.

Universities in Australia charge foreign students a lot more than they charge domestic students. The difference is big: an Australian Master's student might pay 1-2 lakh rupees a year in government-subsidised fees, but you, as an Indian student, pay 20-40 lakh rupees for the same place.

Tuition Fees by Program Level

Note: INR conversions are based on an approximate exchange rate of 1 AUD = 65.33 INR

Source: Study Australia, Australian Government

Tuition Fees at Top Universities in Australia 2026

The table below uses 2026 figures from official university fee publications. INR conversions are at ₹65.33 per AUD.

Note: INR conversions are based on an approximate exchange rate of 1 AUD = 65.33 INR

It costs almost as much to study somewhere in Australia as it does to go to a university. Before tuition is added, a student in inner Sydney spends about ₹45,000 to ₹60,000 more a month than a student in Adelaide.

The table below shows how much it really costs for an Indian student to live alone in five major cities in Australia each month. These numbers cover a small personal expense budget, groceries, local transportation, shared housing, and utilities.

Note: INR conversions are based on an approximate exchange rate of 1 AUD = 65.33 INR

Source: The Australian Government Department of Home Affairs' minimum living cost threshold of AUD 29,710 per year was used as a starting point. Study Australia's city-specific adjustments were then used.

Counselor insight: The city choice is one of the most important ones for an Indian student's finances, and most of them choose Sydney or Melbourne just because they know the names. For a two-year Master's program, living costs in Adelaide are 8–10 lakh less than in Sydney. This is true at universities like the University of Adelaide, which is ranked in the top 100 universities in the world. The money you save can cover the fee for your Subclass 485 post-study visa and rent for a few months after you graduate.

This part is very important for any Indian student in 2026 or 2027 who wants to get a student visa for Australia. In the past year, there have been two big changes that directly affect you. Neither of these changes is covered in most cost guides.

The fee for a visa has gone up to AUD 2,000 (₹1,30,200)

The application fee for a Student Visa (Subclass 500) went up from AUD 1,600 to AUD 2,000 on July 1, 2025. This made it the most expensive student visa fee for all major study destinations. You can't get this fee back. You pay again if your application is turned down.

On January 8, 2026, India was moved to Evidence Level 3

Under the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF), India was moved from Evidence Level 2 to Evidence Level 3 by Australia's Department of Home Affairs on January 8, 2026. Proof Level 3 is the strictest in the framework.

This means the following in real life:

• Bank statements must show at least three months' worth of transactions.
• Large lump-sum deposits made right before filing are a big red flag and a common reason why applications are turned down.
• Academic transcripts will be checked by hand, and the Department of Education may call education providers to make sure they are correct.
• It will be possible to compare biometrics to Interpol records.
• The time it takes to process has gone from three weeks to up to eight weeks.

This change doesn't mean that real students will be turned away. It means that there is more paperwork to do and that planning needs to begin earlier.

How Much Do You Need to Show in Your Bank Account?

When you apply for a visa, the Department of Home Affairs wants to see proof that you have access to the following funds:

Note: INR conversions are based on an approximate exchange rate of 1 AUD = 65.33 INR

This is the minimum amount for a single student. Add AUD 10,400 (₹6,77,040) to the cost of living for your spouse if you are bringing them with you. Add AUD 3,720 (Rs. 2,42,172) for each child under 18.

Documents Checklist for Indian Applicants

Counselor insight: When it comes to evidence level 3, the most common reason we see for turning down Indian applicants is not poor grades. It's the financial paperwork that can't be checked by hand: either money that showed up in the last 4 to 6 weeks from nowhere or a bank account that doesn't show the family's real financial situation because a lump sum was added just for the visa. Case officers at the Department of Home Affairs are specifically trained to identify financial inconsistencies of this kind. Over the course of several months, your financial records should tell a consistent and believable story, not just one impressive balance on a single statement.

All international students in Australia on a student visa must have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). You need a CoE to apply for a visa, but you can't get one without it. It's not a choice.

The cost of OSHC depends on the provider, the level of coverage, and the length of time you buy it. You can expect to pay between ₹39,000 and ₹58,000 (AUD 600 and AUD 890) per year for a Master's program that lasts two years. Keep in mind that OSHC premiums will go up by 4.4% in April 2026. If you are planning to start in July 2026, make sure you budget for the higher premium after April.

As of now, Allianz Care, AHM, BUPA, and Medibank are the four approved OSHC providers. Each one has a little different pricing and coverage. A tool for direct comparison can be found on the Study Australia government portal.

WHAT OSHC COVERS:

• Seeing a doctor and a specialist
• Care in a hospital (public and private)
• Ambulance services in an emergency
• Some medicines that doctors prescribe
• Dental and eye care services are limited (depending on the plan and provider).

It doesn't cover all medical costs. You must pay for any dental care not covered by your insurance plan and any procedures you choose. Set aside money for these separately.
 

For Indian students, the freedom to work while studying is a real plus in Australia over the UK. From 2026 on, international students with a Subclass 500 visa will be able to work up to 48 hours every two weeks during term time and as many hours as they want during university breaks.

At the national minimum wage of AUD 24.95 an hour, working 48 hours every two weeks would earn you about ₹97,000 (AUD 1,494) a month. Many casual jobs pay more than the minimum wage, so the actual pay can be higher.

Note: INR conversions are based on an approximate exchange rate of 1 AUD = 65.33 INR

The Australian Government's 2025-26 Budget announcement proposed increasing the work limit to 60 hours per fortnight. As of March 2026, this has not been legislated. Verify the current status at the Department of Home Affairs website before finalising your budget.

Counselor insight: In Adelaide or a smaller city, students who work the maximum amount of hours are likely to be able to cover 90–100% of their monthly living costs with part-time work alone. In Sydney or Melbourne, the same amount of work income covers about 60% to 70% of costs. This is one of the most concrete and cost-effective reasons to study in a city with lower costs, but most students don't fully understand it until they arrive there.

Full-tuition scholarships aren't the only kind of scholarships that can make a difference. A partial merit scholarship of ₹6–10 lakh per year can make a big difference in how much money a family has.

The most important scholarships for Indian students who want to apply in 2026 are the following:

• Australia Awards Scholarships: Open to people from certain countries, including India, and funded by the Australian government. Cover the full cost of tuition, the round-trip flight, a living stipend, and health insurance. Really competitive. Usually, applications open 12 to 18 months before the intake. For a start date in February 2027, the application window is probably open now or will be soon.
• The Destination Australia Program: It gives students AUD 15,000 (₹9,76,500) a year to help them pay for school at a regional campus. Most Indian students attend colleges in the capital, so they rarely apply for this scholarship.
• Research Training Program (RTP): This gives PhD and Master's by Research students a living stipend of AUD 32,000+ (₹20,83,200+) per year and pays for all of their tuition. Australian universities automatically consider Indian students conducting research.
• University scholarships for outstanding grades: Most universities in the Group of Eight and the middle range offer vice-chancellor's awards that cover anywhere from 10% to 25% of tuition. Most of the time, you apply for these when you apply for a course. Two well-known ones are the Monash International Merit Scholarship and the University of Melbourne Graduate Access Melbourne.

Counselor insight: Usually, the last day to apply for a scholarship for the February intake is in October or November. When students call us in November to ask how to apply for scholarships for a start date in February, they almost always miss the most competitive rounds. If you read this before July 2026 and want to start in February 2027, you should start looking for scholarships right away, not after you receive your offer letter.

Your request for a visa was turned down

Under Level 3 Evidence, the most common reasons Indian applicants are turned down in 2026 are financial documents that can't be checked by hand, a Genuine Student (GS) statement that doesn't make clear the applicant's desire to study, and academic transcripts that cannot be checked.

If your visa is turned down, you won't get your ₹1,30,200 (AUD 2,000) application fee back. Make sure you understand the reason for the rejection from the decision letter before you apply again. Take care of every single concern that was raised. If you were turned down because of money problems, you should gather new financial proof over the course of three months before applying again. Due to the high cost of having a second application turned down, you might want to work with a registered migration agent (MARA-registered) for your second application.

Your IELTS score isn't good enough

What will you do in 2026 if your IELTS score isn't high enough for the course or university you want to go to? You can retake the whole test (the IELTS One Skill Retake is now accepted, letting you retake a single band within 60 days if all other bands are satisfactory), apply to a pathway program at the university you want to attend, or apply to a school with lower English language requirements for your first year with plans to transfer later.

If your score is lower than the minimum, do not try to apply for a student visa. You will not get the visa, and you will lose the fee you paid to apply.

You miss the visa window because your student loan is late

This happens a lot more often than most students think, especially with Indian banks that have been taken over by the government. You can either ask your university for a deferred entry (most universities will give you one) or apply for the next intake and use the extra time to make sure you have all the necessary financial documents if your loan sanction letter is late and you can't show enough proof of your finances for your visa application before the deadline for the intake.

To meet an intake deadline, don't rush through a visa application that doesn't have all of the necessary financial documents. It costs more to refuse and miss a semester than to delay by 6 months with all the necessary paperwork.

A mistake in your CoE is holding up your visa

Your full name, spelling, and date of birth must be the same on your confirmation of enrollment as they are on your passport. If there is even one character difference between your CoE and your passport, a case officer will ask for more proof, which takes weeks longer to process. As soon as your CoE gets here, check it. If something is wrong, you should contact your university's international admissions office right away. PRISMS is the government's system for managing enrollment, and only the university can fix a CoE through it. You can't fix it on your own.

Counselor insight: The problem that can be fixed most easily is a lack of paperwork that you find before you lodge. The worst thing that can happen is filing too late with weak documents because you ran out of time. These days, it usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to process evidence at Level 3. If your first class is in February, you need to get your visa in by the end of November or the beginning of December at the latest. When students call us in January to ask why their visa for February hasn't arrived yet, they usually put in their application in December without realizing that the processing time would be longer.

• Figure out how much you will really spend on your first year, not just the tuition. The full cost of the first year in Australia for most Indian Master's students is ₹37–60 lakh, not the ₹20–25 lakh number that goes around on student forums. The lower amount usually only includes tuition, leaving out living costs, the ₹1,30,200 visa fee, OSHC, and the money spent before the trip. Costs in the whole picture.
• Don't wait until the month before you apply to start putting together your financial documents. This means that before you apply for a visa in India, your bank statements must show at least three months of consistent, verifiable transaction history. At the moment, one of the most common reasons for refusal is a last-minute top-up. As of October 2026, your financial paperwork needs to start taking shape if your start date is February 2027.
• Think about the city's choice carefully before you accept an offer. If you study in Adelaide or Perth instead of Sydney or Melbourne, you can save ₹8–15 lakh on living costs alone over the course of a two-year Master's program at universities where job prospects for graduates are about the same in most fields. That savings covers your Subclass 485 post-study work visa (₹2,99,460) and living costs for a few months after graduation. It also gives you a lot more financial security while you're in school.

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