VET Student Loans (VSL)

Student loans give you the choice of studying at William Angliss Institute now and paying some of your tuition fees later.

Under a VET Student Loan, the Australian Government pays your tuition fee (up to the loan limit) on your behalf directly to William Angliss Institute. You repay that loan through the tax system when your income exceeds a repayment threshold determined by the Australian Government. The Australian Tax Office will calculate your compulsory payments each year and collect these payments until the whole debt has been repaid.

VET Student Loans are indexed annually, which means that the amount borrowed will increase each year to reflect the cost of living. Also, a 20 per cent loan fee applies for full fee paying/fee for service students. For Government Subsidised Places the 20 per cent fee does not apply.

Students should seek independent financial advice before committing to the VET student loan.

Information on this page is to be read in conjunction with the Australian Government's VET Student Loans information booklet.

Eligibility requirements

Eligible students

To be eligible for a VET Student Loan you must:

• Be enrolled in an eligible Diploma or Advanced Diploma course
• Provide evidence that you are one of the following: (See accepted documents for evidence of citizenship)
  • an Australian citizen, or
  • a permanent humanitarian visa holder who is usually resident in Australia, or 
  • a New Zealand Special Visa holder who meets the long-term residency requirements; or 
  • a Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) holder 
• Have a HELP balance that is more than $0. Your HELP loan limit is the amount that you can borrow.
• Have a Tax File Number issued by the ATO by the unit of study census date
• Have a valid Unique Student Identifier (USI)
• Provide evidence of academic suitability (See accepted documents for evidence of academic suitability)
• Reside in Australia for the duration of your study.

Please refer to the VET Student Loan Eligibility Tool.

To remain eligible for the VSL scheme:

• your course must continue to remain on the approved list of VSL courses
• you must confirm your engagement and progression online when requested to by the government, otherwise, you may cease being eligible for a VSL.

If you do not meet the eligibility requirements you will not be able to access a VET Student Loan but you will still be able to study in your course if you meet the course entry requirements and pay your tuition and other applicable fees.

How much can I borrow?

For each VET Student Loan approved course, you can borrow up to the lesser of

• the Loan Cap the Department of Education and Training has set for that course, or
• the remaining unused balance under your HELP loan limit.

Your HELP loan limit is the maximum amount of VET Student Loans, VET FEE-HELP, FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP you can use to pay for your studies. The HELP loan limit is indexed annually on 1 January. For 2024, the HELP loan limit is $121,844 for most students. Visit the Study Assist website for more information.

List of William Angliss Institute courses approved for VET Student Loans 2024

What is covered by VSL

VET Student Loans (VSL) can be used to cover tuition fees only. Other fees, e.g., student services fees, material fees, tours or excursions, are not covered.

For some courses, the VET Student Loan (VSL) cap may not fully cover the tuition fees for the entire course. You will be required to pay any tuition fee above the loan cap as it becomes due. You will also be required to pay any other non-tuition fees (excursions, uniforms, etc) before you can commence study.

For eligible VSL courses, refer to the VET Schedule of Tuition Fees to view the tuition fee for each unit of study and their applicable census dates. Also refer to the VET Census Dates & Payment Deadlines page.

Please note,

• There is a loan fee for Full-Fee Paying/Fee For Service students calculated at 20% of the loan amount which is added to the loan balance. Students eligible for a Government Subsidised Place do not need to pay a loan fee. Check if you are eligible for a Government Subsidised Place via Victorian Training Guarantee.
• If the Department of Education and Training removes your course from the list of eligible courses, the remainder of tuition fees for the rest of your course will no longer be covered.

The Department of Education and Training sets a limit on the total amount of student loans allowed for each education provider and this limit may not cover all eligible student loans. Therefore, if you intend to apply for a student loan you should do so as soon as possible.

How to apply for a VSL

How to Apply For a VET Student Loan

1. Read the VET Student Loan Information booklet.
2. Apply for a Tax File Number from the ATO if you don’t already have one.
3. Gather evidence of your citizenship status and academic suitability to support your loan application if we don’t already have the required documents (see below for required evidence).
4. If you are under 18, have your parent or guardian complete a VET Student Loans Parental Consent Form. This is not necessary if you have been assessed by Centrelink for the independent rate of Youth Allowance but you will need to provide a Centrelink Income Statement as evidence of this.
5. Submit your required evidence documents either by visiting the VET Student Loans stand at the Orientation Day Fair or email studentloans@angliss.edu.au.
6. William Angliss Institute will verify your eligibility and register your student details in the Government eCAF system.
7. You will receive an email from the Government eCAF system and, using details in that email, are required to login to eCAF to enter your Tax File Number and confirm your loan.

Required Evidence

Students applying for a VET Student Loan must provide evidence of citizenship status and academic suitability to support the loan application. 

See the documents accepted to support your application for VSL.

Managing your loan

Census Date

Refer to the VET Census Dates & Payment Deadlines page.

The census day for a course, or a part of a course (e.g. unit), is the last day you can:

• complete the eCAF to apply for a VET Student Loan for your course
• withdraw your enrolment without incurring a debt for the course or part of the course

VET Student Loans fee notice/ VET Student Loans Statement of Covered Fees

Before your first census date you will receive a VET Student Loans Statement of Covered Fees showing your contact details, student identification number, CHESSN, the tuition fees for your current enrolment, the amount that will be covered by the loan and the amount you will need to pay. You can see which units will be deferred and which are to be paid by you with due dates by logging in to eStudent and selecting the "My Finances" tab across the top of the screen.

You must check each detail on the notice carefully and advise the Information Centre if there are any errors before the census date.

Commonwealth Assistance Notice

Students who access VET Student Loans (VSL) will be issued a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN). Your CAN is issued electronically and emailed to your e-mail address within 28 days after each Census Date.

Your CAN is an official notification of your enrolment, and contains information that is reported to the Government and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The CAN provides information including the units enrolled, fees, upfront payments, and the debt incurred for the period.

You need to keep a copy of your CAN for each study period in your records and verify that all the information is correct. If you believe there is an error on your CAN, you must notify us in writing within 14 days of the date of issue of the CAN.

Withdrawing from your course or units of study

If you wish to change or withdraw from your course, or if you wish to withdraw from some units, you need to contact your course Program Leader to complete the relevant forms. More information on withdrawing can be found on our Withdrawal page.

If you make these changes before the relevant census date of your units of study, the tuition fees will be cancelled and any relevant tuition fee amounts you have paid will be refunded.

If you make these changes after the census date, the tuition fees that have been added to your HELP debt under VET Student Loans cannot be cancelled and have to be repaid as normal. If there were special circumstances preventing you from acting before the census date you may be eligible to apply for remission of debt in special circumstances.

Visit our Refunds page in order to find the amounts to be refunded depending on your withdrawal date, and additional information including, refund conditions, eligibility and the Refund Request form.

Refer to the VET Census Dates & Payment Deadlines page.

Checking your HELP records and balance

You can view your HELP debt records and balances online by one of the following methods as outlined by the Australian Government.

• Log in to myHELPbalance. You will need your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) to log in. Your CHESSN is shown on your Commonwealth Assistance Notice.
• Log in to the myGov website. To access this online service, please refer to the instructions on the ATO website.
• Call the ATO on 13 28 61. You will have to advise the ATO of your tax file number (TFN) before they will disclose any personal information to you.

Contact us

If you require further information or assistance with accessing a VET Student Loan, please contact the relevant Centre for your course or

Information Centre
Building A, Ground Floor
555 La Trobe St
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
03 9606 2111
information@angliss.edu.au

Statement of VET Tuition Assurance for Exempt TAFE VET Student Loans (VSL) Providers