What is a Unique Student Identifier (USI) and why do I need one?

A Unique Student Identifier (USI) is your individual education number for life. It creates an online record of any training and qualifications you’ve attained in Australia – you only need to create it once.

Why do I need one?

If you’re starting your course from 2022 onwards, you’ll need a USI to be able to apply for Government financial HELP-loans.

Not providing a USI may result in you having to pay full fees for your course.

All higher education students will need one to receive their qualifications when completing their degree from 2023 onwards.

Deadlines for providing your USI

  • Continuing student: you will need to provide your USI before 1 January 2023.
  • New student: you will need to provide your USI before your first Census Date.

How do I get one?

Your USI is for life – just take these two simple steps below:

Step 1: Create a USI

It only takes a few minutes to Create your USI on the USI website.

To make sure all the details match up, check your personal details recorded in StudentOnLine (including your personal email address) are the same as what you use when creating your USI. You can update your details in StudentOnLine if they’ve changed.

If you’ve studied in Australia since 2015, it’s worth checking to see if you already have a USI. You can check using a range of details and the system will send you your number if it exists.

Step 2: Submit your USI

Once you have your number, you’ll need to let us know by submitting your USI to us through the form in StudentOnLine so we have it on your record.

At this stage, we don’t get notified any other way about your number, so this is an important step.

And that’s all there is to it! Once you’ve created and submitted your USI, you’re good to go for the rest of your course.