Common Questions

To apply, simply go online and fill out the online application under the ‘How To Apply’ tab.  Alternatively, you can print the downloadable application forms.  You will also need a Pastor to fill out a Reference for you.   http://www2.hillsong.com/college/pages/application.asp

We receive applications 18 months in advance of the intake you want to come for.  

January 2010 Intake – starts Wednesday 27^th January
July 2010 Intake – starts Monday 19^th July
January 2011 Intake - starts 24^th January

There is no formal deadline; however, we recommend applying early as we may require additional information on applications.

• A conviction that there is a call of God upon your life
• A minimum entry age of 18
• A satisfactory Pastoral Reference (on Pastoral Reference Form provided)
• An ongoing commitment to Christ and consistent involvement in a local church for longer than 12 months
• An assessment by the College that the applicant is likely to successfully complete the course 
• Be proficient in spoken and written English.  Students for whom English is a second language should demonstrate their English language skills with an IELTS result of an average of 5.5 on the General test
• High School completed with EITHER:
  • High School Diploma (Grade 12/Senior USA) or GED
  • OR at least 2 years post school work experience

As well as the Application Form you will need to provide: 

• 300 salvation testimony
• Application Fee (AU$200 for international students)
• Pastoral Reference Form
• 2 colour passport-style photos
• Proof of English (if English is 2nd language)

You will need to take an IELTS Exam and achieve a score of 5.5 or higher on the General Test. 

International English Language Testing System – information available online at www.ielts.org regarding testing centres and dates.

Yes, everything can be emailed in to the College.  You can also fax or post.

Visit www.immi.gov.au.  All applicants must organize their own visa. 

Student visas can take up to three months to be granted by immigration; however, from the USA it generally takes around 3 to 4 weeks.  We do recommend applying early to ensure you get the visa in time.  Applications in the USA will not be accepted by Immigration more than 4 months before course start date.

Once we have received a completed application, it is our committment to respond to you within one working day.  If your application is not complete, we will contact you requesting that you submit the remaining aspects of your application.  Please note that incomplete applications cannot be processed. 

We require that you have been attending one church for at least 12 months prior to applying to study. 

In this case, we would request that you get a Pastoral Reference form from both your current pastor and your previous church pastor, or an additional 2 character references.

We prefer the Pastoral Reference form to come from the pastor that you put on your application as your home church. 

As long as this is okay with your Senior Pastor, it’s fine for your Youth Pastor to complete the form.

No, but it would be a good idea to read the Hillsong Church "What We Believe" statement available on the church web site (www.hillsong.com) as these are taught as being fundamentals in your Christian walk. 

The college is unable to provide scholarships or financial aid.  Students raise their finances by either working before coming to college and saving, or having friends, family or church members support them. Whilst saying this, please do not discount God's ability to intervene in your circumstances.  We have many students both past and present that God has miraculously provided a means by which they have come to college. 

Hillsong College is not currently approved for FAFSA funding.

As part of your Student Visa requirements, you will need to have Australian-based Overseas Student Health Insurance, which you pay to College with your fees and then we arrange your OHSC on your behalf. 

You can arrive from whenever your visa permits; however, we generally open accommodation approximately two weeks prior to the intake commencing. We can give exact details a few months out from the intake.

Hillsong Church and College are firmly committed to "championing the cause of the local church". To that end, we see that a team is built by relationship (as well as skill, character, integrity and gifting) rather than a secular 'job hunting' model.  The College does not offer a job placement scheme as such and the onus is on you to build relationship and sow yourself into the life of your home church, so much that the leadership of your church (or denomination) is compelled to put you on staff because of the responsibility, excellence and ownership you lead with. 

Australia does get hot, but it also gets quite cold as well. The temperature in Australia ranges from 28° C to 33° C (82° F - 91° F) in Summer to 12° C to 18° C (53° F - 65° F) in Winter during the day (and 4° C to 6° C (40° F - 43° F) during the night.  

Summer months are quite warm.  Bring your swimsuit.  For winter, we recommend a warm jacket and jumpers (sweaters), scarves and gloves.  

Academically there is no difference between our two campuses.  The courses are identical and all of our key pastoral and lecturing staff teach at both campuses equally. 

At present the college does not have English language courses.  

However, an applicant could meet their English requirement by enrolling in and successfully completing the 'English for Theology' (Upper-Intermediate) course provided by Australia Onsung International College  (http://www.onsung.org/entrytohill.html) prior to commencing studies with Hillsong International Leadership College, where-upon you are able to apply for a single visa that covers both courses.

Due to the course load of all streams, it is not possible to study more than one stream at a time.

Skill and knowledge already held by students whether gained by previous study, work or life experience can be considered as sufficient to fulfill the learning outcomes of any subject.  If you consider that you possess sufficient skills and knowledge to meet the Learning Outcome  and Assessment Criteria in on or any subjects in our courses, please bring to Enrolment as many forms of evidence as possible in support of your RPL claim.  Evidence may include:

• Verified copies of academic transcripts or certificates from another college, university or institute of training which list your successful achievement in areas that parallel HILC subjects.
• Authenticated work samples (eg song, portfolio, album recording, published text), logbooks, letters of recommendation, newspaper articles, job descriptions, photos, video clips (from news or other sources), Curriculum Vitae/résumé, publications (such as advertisement listing your involvement), ministry itinerary, email trails, articles, authored works

Please refer to the Student Handbook on the College website for RPL Fee pricing.  International students should note that it is a visa requirement to study full time.   

Streams differ in regards to the number of trainers and the type and amount of equipment and resources needed to give each student the best training experience. The difference in fees between streams reflects the higher trainer to student ratio and more expensive equipment requirements for training in some areas of ministry. Our Fees are calculated to allow us to resource the stream effectively making the whole learning experience as rewarding as possible.

Hillsong College is accredited by the Australian Government and is widely recognized throughout the world.  It will depend upon the specific institution you apply to as to what credit you would receive from your studies here.  Your time at Hillsong will be transformational and will empower you to lead and impact in every sphere of life.

Hillsong College is an amazing environment to study in because of the great impact that our pastors, leadership training and thriving Church services will have on your life – you won’t learn all that from a correspondence course!  For this reason our courses are only available to study in Sydney, Australia. 

There are four Clusters, including Pastoral Leadership, Worship Music, TV & Media, and Dance.

 Pastoral Leadership Pathways:

• Certificate IV Pathways
  • Pastoral Ministry
  • Youth
  • Young Adults
  • Children
  • Evangelism & Discipleship
  • Social Justice
  • Events
• Diploma Pathways
  • Pastoral Ministry
  • Youth
  • Young Adults
  • Children
  • Connect Groups
  • Evangelism & Discipleship
  • Women
  • Social Justice
  • Community Outreach
  • Pastoral Care
  • Events
• Advanced Diploma Pathways
  • Individually customized pastoral pathways

Worship Music Pathways

• Certificate IV Pathways
  • Worship Music
• Diploma Pathways
  • Worship Music
• Advanced Diploma Pathways
  • Individually customized worship pathways

TV & Media Pathways

• Certificate IV Pathways
  • TV & Media
• Diploma Pathways
  • n/a
• Advanced Diploma Pathways
  • n/a

Dance Pathways

• Certificate IV Pathways
  • Dance
• Diploma Pathways
  • n/a
• Advanced Diploma Pathways
  • n/a 

It would be your personal preference if you decide to buy a car as you will not be required to own one for college. However, having a car broadens your ability to work.

College runs from 8:00AM until approximately 3:00-4:00PM four days per week (daily finish times vary depending on your personal timetable).  Students are also required to serve in two of the weekend church services as a part of their course. 

The college library has a number of computers with Internet access available for student use.  However, many students do decide to bring a laptop.

Students are not required to purchase any programs as a part of their course, however there are programs used in the TV & Media and Worship Music Streams that students may want to familiarise themselves with before arrival. For the TV & Media Stream, students are primarily trained using Mac computers and the following programs are used: Final Cut Studio (Mac), Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Final Draft. For the Worship Music stream, Garage Band (Mac) is used, although to a lesser extent. Please note that if any of these programs are required as a part of class instruction or necessary for assessment purposes, students will be given access to them and will not be required to have their own copy of the program. 

Yes, printers are available to students using the college library computers.  

You will not be required to purchase any other reading material as we have made available in our College Library all necessary text. We do recommend that students get the TNIV Study Bible. 

Yes – Students can apply to be housed in College Accommodation.  College Accommodation is housing that the College leases from real estate agents or people in the community and then subleases to students.  We don’t currently have dorm-style housing and students are responsible for their own meals and all utilities in the house.  Please refer to Accommodation Information for more details.

International students can work for 20 hours per week during the school term and unlimited on school holidays/breaks so long as they have a valid Student working visa.   http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/students.htm

Although quite relaxed, we do ask that students dress in a ‘smart-casual’ manner, keeping in mind that you will often be around our Senior Pastors and their guests (as church and college run in the same buildings).  During college hours this can include jeans (though no ripped items of clothing are permitted), training shoes/sneakers, etc.  

Students are asked to dress respectably during their involvement in weekend services (for example, smart shirts and pants/trousers).  

All costs are per person, per week.

• Rent (varies according to market prices) - $125 - $155
• Utilities (Electricity, Gas - shared household cost) - $10 - $20
• Phone (excluding international calls) - $10 - $20
• Food - $70 - $85
• Transport, Tithe, entertainment??

TOTAL - $250 - $350

Please note that this is to be used as a guide only and the actual costs will be dependent on individual living preferences. Married couples should use this guide as an approximation per person.

We do not provide daycare for children but can advise of many local daycare facilities. The College has a fantastic support network for families. We have regular meetings throughout the semester to help include a spouse that is not studying. We recognise what it takes for a family to move from out of state/country to Sydney and so we have a group of marrieds who help facilitate the arrival, accommodation and integration of families into College and Church life and this is overseen by one of our key staff.

You would need to ask your housemates or friends if you want your family to stay with you.