anu phd cost

Directories

Tuition Fees Summary

Domestic Undergraduate and Postgraduate Coursework Students

On 19 October 2020, the Job-ready Graduates Package passed in parliament. This means from 1 January 2021, there will be some changes to Australia's higher education student contribution bands. For more information, please visit StudyAssist

All domestic undergraduate students, and some domestic postgraduate students, are Commonwealth supported. This means they are not liable for the full tuition fee for a course.

The Australian government pays a portion of the tuition fee for Commonwealth supported students. The remaining amount is called the 'student contribution'. Domestic students are encouraged to read the sections below on HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP. Most domestic graduate coursework and non-award students at ANU are required to pay domestic tuition fees (DTF). The table below summarises these contributions with details in the fees schedule .

For the purposes of determining student contribution amounts, courses are categorised by their broad discipline (student contribution bands). ANU degree programs allow the flexibility to take courses across multiple bands. The student contribution amounts applicable to each discipline are listed below. Specific course contribution amounts are listed on the relevant course entry on the Programs & Courses website. The student contribution amount differs based on which band the relevant course belongs to. The amount charged per course is apportioned on the equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) value of the course. Full details are provided throughout these pages.

International Undergraduate and Postgraduate Coursework Students

Please follow the links in Programs & Courses where specific fees for international students are listed by your degree.

Research Students

Please contact the Graduate Research Office for advice about costs of study and support available to graduate researchers.

Schedule of Tuition Fees 2024 (PDF, 150.28 KB)
Schedule of Tuition Fees 2025 (PDF, 152.25 KB)

Related websites

Study Assist Website
135 ANU (135 268)

ANU Postgraduate research

Research is at the core of everything we do. It informs the content of our degrees, influences public policy and solves some of our region’s greatest challenges.

ANU postgraduate research

Find a supervisor

Scholarships & Fees

How to apply

Change the conversation

Studying an advanced, research-focused Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree at The Australian National University (ANU) is an opportunity to make a substantial and original contribution to your discipline or area of professional practice.

We’ll automatically consider you for a scholarship when we receive your application.

Research areas

Our research priorities reflect the challenges facing the world today.

ANU researchers are currently exploring a range of disciplines and study areas .

university in the world

QS World University Rankings 2025

Nobel laureates among ANU staff & alumni

in Australia in 13 disciplines

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024

for student-teacher ratio and staff qualifications

Good Universities Guide 2023

Before you apply

Find a potential supervisor and explore our colleges’ research opportunities. Some colleges have different application requirements – so make sure you’re aware of and follow these before you apply.

1. Find a supervisor

Discover potential supervisors. Explore their research and published works and find their contact details.

Search supervisors

2. ANU college research opportunities

Our colleges can provide you with information about research areas, supervisors and groups, as well as who to contact.

NOTE: More than one college can offer supervision in a particular study area.

ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences
ANU College of Asia & the Pacific
ANU College of Business & Economics
ANU College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics
ANU College of Health & Medicine
ANU College of Law
ANU College of Science

3. Explore college application requirements

If you have found a supervisor you would like to work with and the college that offers this supervision, you will need to find out if there are any pre-application steps that your college would like you to take.

Most colleges would like you to find and secure the support of a potential supervisor before you complete your application. For example, the ANU College of Business & Economics has different arrangements for setting up supervision, so please check in with them before applying.

Some colleges will ask you to send a short description of your proposed area of research as an expression of interest and a summary of your academic qualifications, including grades, to them first.

Visit the ANU college research pages for pre-application advice (see the links under 'ANU colleges’ content above).

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Applying to ANU

You can apply at any time of the year – but if you would like to be considered for a scholarship, you will need to send your application within the scholarship’s application deadline.

Scholarship applicants

Your referees should send their reports before your scholarship’s deadline. Give them as much time as possible by completing your ANU application 2–3 weeks earlier than the scholarship’s deadline. We’ll contact your referees when we get your application.

Application requirements

Your application to study at ANU must meet the following requirements.

1. Minimum admission requirements

Explore our minimum admission requirements.

Requirements for admission to a Doctor of Philosophy degree

An Australian bachelor’s degree with at least second-class honours (Upper first-class honours may be required by some programs) or the international equivalent, or
Another degree with a significant research/thesis component, or
A combination of qualifications, research publications and/or professional experience related to your field of study

Requirements for admission to a Master of Philosophy degree

An Australian bachelor’s degree or higher, with an overall grade of distinction or higher, or the international equivalent, or
Another equivalent degree, or
A combination of qualifications, research publications and/or professional experience that are related to your field of study

2. English language requirements

You must meet our English language requirements to be eligible for admission to ANU. While you can apply without having met them, you will need to show that you do when you get a study offer from us.

Unsure whether you can meet the English language requirements? Contact your research school or the Graduate Research Office before you send your application.

Learn more about ANU English language requirements

3. Research proposal

Your draft research proposal only needs to be short. Check in with your potential supervisor to clarify their expectations for this proposal before you send it in with your application.

Your proposal should present your idea or question in your discipline area clearly. Consider it a statement about the basis of the research you’d like to do.

Your research proposal should:

establish the relevance of your idea
show gaps in your field – and how your research would address these
include how you would go about your research project – your approach, methodologies and resources.

You will be able to change the proposal once you have enrolled in your program.

Learn about research proposals

4. Referees

Referee reports are mandatory when applying for admission to a HDR Program. At least 2 referees reports are required to commence assessment of the application. Academic referees, who are able to comment on the applicant’s ability to undertake the program, are preferred, however, professional references can also be used. The University may request additional referee reports during the assessment of the application.

Ensure their contact details are correct; we will email them a report to complete from within the application portal as soon as we have received your application.

If your referee is unable to access our system-generated referee report, they can contact the Admissions team and ask for another version of the form.

Your referees must send their completed reports confidentially and directly to the University rather than to you.

Reference documents:

Research Application Referee Report (DOCX, 85.97 KB)

5. Supporting documentation

Upload clear, colour copies of your academic transcripts and graduation certificates with your application. You do not need to certify these documents, but they must be original copies. We will verify their authenticity.

If your academic documents were originally given to you in a language other than English, we will need official copies of the document in that language and original translations for verification purposes.

6. Incomplete qualifications

You can apply to ANU before you complete your current degree if you are in your final year. Advise the Graduate Research office your expected completion date via your application and supply a copy of the qualification when we make you an offer.

For more information, refer to ‘Supporting documentation’.

If you have the approval of a college and a potential supervisor, you can apply for admission to ANU. Without this endorsement, though, we might not be able to assess your application.

Choose the program you want to study from the Program & Courses catalogue

On the program’s page, click 'apply’ to open the application portal

Complete your application

Receiving an offer from ANU

After we assess your application, we will contact you via email about the outcome within 6–8 weeks (about 2 months). This could take longer if we're also considering you for a scholarship.

If you do not hear from ANU within two months, contact your research school or email the Graduate Research Office.