​​Saint Mary’s Catholic College is committed to providing quality, inclusive education to families in the South Burnett region at a reasonable cost.   

​​Explanation of Tuition Fees and Levies

​​Capital Levy ​​​

This is a compulsory levy charged per family. It is used to support the Capital Loan repayments and minor capital projects for land and buildings. This levy​ is not​ tax deductible.

​P&F Levy

​​This levy is collected on behalf of the Saint Mary's Catholic College P&F Association. It is used to fund various projects around the school, improving facilities for students.

​Tuition Fees

​​These fees are calculated based on recommendations of Brisbane Catholic Education. Included in this fee is an Archdiocesan Education levy. This fee is remitted centrally to Brisbane Catholic Education, which provides shared resources to all schools within the Archdiocese. The balance of school fees are used to cover the everyday running/maintenance expenses of the College.

ICT Levy

​​​The ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Levy contributes towards software licensing, internet charges, provision of hardware and audio visual needs across the College including the 1:1 Laptop Program for Secondary students and class sets of iPads for Primary students.

General and Subject Levies

​The General Levy incorporates costs such as camps, excursions, reflection days, sporting carnivals, arts councils, student diaries, class consumables including consumable workbooks and class book list items, reading and maths programs etc. Subject Levies assist to cover the costs of specific subject areas. Those costs vary depending on the nature of the subjects being taught. Subject levies for year levels 7 to 12 are listed next to the general levy. However please not that some elective subjects will attract an additional levy, and these are shown under the Elective Subject Levies heading and apply only to students in year levels 9 to 12.

How to calculate your Family's Fees

To calculate your family's fees, you need to start with your eldest child. For example, if you have 3 children in Year 12, 8 and Prep, you will need to add costs listed below:

Depending on what elective subjects your child/ren have chosen, additional elective subject levies may be billed to your account. Not all elective subjects have levies attached.

If you have five or more children, then levies only apply to the fifth child and to any additional children after the fifth. Tuition Fees are 100% discounted for these children.

The P&F and Capital Levies are a family-based levy and are not applied per student but per family. In the incidences of split billing arrangements these families costs are shared, not charged twice.

​Enrolment Confirmation Fee

Families are required to pay a non-refundable Enrolment Confirmation Fee of $100 per student or $150 per family upon acceptance of a place offered at the College. There is no charge to make an enrolment application to the College.

Sibling Discounts for Linked Catholic Schools

Families who have students to another Catholic school in the South Burnett will continue to receive a discount under the Sibling Discount Scheme. Below is a table setting out the fee discounts as they will apply at Saint Mary's for 2025. Eligible schools are: St Patrick's Nanango and St Joseph's Murgon. Please note, this discount only applies to the Tuition Fees. It does not apply to the Capital, P&F, ICT, General or Subject levies.

Please advise the office if you are eligible for this discount. A notification form will need to be completed.

​5% Early Payment Discount if Fees & Levies paid by 28th February 2025​

An early payment discount of 5% on the Tuition Fees will be applied to the account if the full year's Fees and Levies are paid in advance at the commencement of each year. The payments need to be made and received by the College before 28th February 2025. Please contact the College office for assistance with calculating your full year's account if needed. Please note Term 1 invoices will not be issued until February so please do not wait for the term invoice if interested in claiming the early payment discount.

Bus Fare Assistant Program (BFAP)

Parent contribution (to be charged to account) - this is the weekly family threshold amount. This is not your full weekly bus fares. For families travelling on College bus runs operated by Pursers Buses, the College pays the bus fates to the Bus Operator and then claims the Non-State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme (NSSTAS) subsidy on your behalf e.g. if the full family weekly fares are $160. We pay the Bus Operator $160, claim $125 from the NSSTAS and charge the balance to your account, being the threshold amount of $35.

​If you have students attending another non-state school and are claiming BFAP at this school as well, please let the office know as only one family threshold applies.

Weekly Family Bus Fare Threshold - Semester 1 2025 (set by BFAP not the College)

• $35/family per week
• $25/family per week for Concession Card holders​

​Collection Policy

​The following guidelines are issued by Brisbane Catholic Education and reflected the College's Fee Policy

• ​On expiry of the due date, a reminder email is sent
• if suitable​ response is not received, a phone call will be made
  
• if there are not obvious extenuating circumstances, the Principal or designated person may warn the family that the collection process will begin
  
• If, after this, no satisfactory arrangements have been reached and there appears to be no workable solution, then the account may be sent to a collection agency and additional charges will be incurred. All negotiations for payment must then be made through the debt collection agency.
  

​Payment Terms and Payment Options

​School fees and levies are charged and emailed/mailed at the beginning of each term and are due for payment 14 days after. Payments can be made by any of the following options: cash, cheque, EFTPOS, Direct Debit, BPay, Centrelink deductions and credit cards are accepted. Preferred methods of payment are BPay or Direct Debit.

​Direct Debit

​To spread the costs of your fees over the year, we offer a direct debit system, whereby an amount is deducted from your bank account. A similar arrangement can be done via Centrelink. Please ask the College office for more information.

Difficult Paying

​It is important to contact the College if you are unable to pay your fees by the due date. It has always been our policy to assist parents who may be experiencing any difficulties in meeting fee obligations. By contacting the Finance Secretary as early as possible, this allows us to come to an arrangement before circumstances become more difficult.

​Fee Concession

​No family should endure unreasonable financial hardship because of school fees. Any reduction in fees should be looked at in terms of:​​

• Financial needs of the family,
  
• responsibility to full fee-paying parents/carers,​
  
• efforts made in paying the fees.
  

If you believe you may be eligible for a concession on school fees, please complete the Fee Concession Application ​form. An appointment with the Finance Secretary will be arranged once a completed application with all supporting documentation is received.

Documentation in relation to school fees:​

2025 Fee Schedule.

Direct Debit Application Form