Understanding StudyLink

StudyLink, formerly known as WINZ (Work and Income New Zealand) is a governmental agency that administers the distribution of student loans for educational costs and allowances.

In the past, a third party was used to manage the transfer of fees between the student account and StudyLink. The third-party functionality is no longer used and payments are posted directly to the students' accounts.

The process is initiated when a student applies for a loan through StudyLink. StudyLink requests the student's verification of study (VOS) from the institution where the student is enrolled. The institution matches the student's name, date of birth, and ID, creates a loan record, and sends the student's enrollment data and tuition charges to StudyLink in a VOS return file. StudyLink then sends the funds to the institution (if StudyLink is covering tuition) or to the student (only if StudyLink is providing allowance), or it denies the student loan.

StudyLink sends the funds through a PAY file for confirmed students, and payments are posted to the students' accounts. The Refund External Org ID is supplied to allow refunding to StudyLink as necessary.

If a student's enrollment changes and fees are reduced, funds are returned to StudyLink. The system generates an institution PAY file to list refunds to StudyLink and a DAT file of refund transactions. The DAT file can be processed through Student Financials as an external file.