How to Apply for VET Student Loans for an Eligible Diploma Course

What does a VET Student Loan cover?

A VET Student Loan (VSL) is an Australian Government income-contingent loan that helps eligible vocational education and training students pay eligible tuition fees. It is not available for every VET qualification, every provider or every student.

The loan is available only when you study an approved diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma course included in the VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Determination with an approved VSL provider.

A VET Student Loan does not automatically cover the full price of your course. The amount available is affected by the loan cap for your course and your remaining HELP balance. If the tuition fee exceeds the amount the VSL can cover, you may need to pay the difference directly to your provider.

Is your diploma course eligible for VET Student Loans?

Do not assume a course qualifies simply because its name includes 'Diploma'. Your exact course must be on the current VSL approved course list, and the organisation delivering it must be an approved VSL provider.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations maintains the VET Student Loans Course List and Loan Caps for students. For units with a census day on or after 1 January 2026, the indexed maximum course loan caps are $6,428 for Band 1, $12,858 for Band 2 and $19,290 for Band 3. Courses with a specific cap under Schedule 2 can have a maximum of $96,467. The cap that applies depends on the exact approved course.

The course cap is not an entitlement to borrow that entire amount. Your available HELP balance also limits how much you can borrow.

Who meets the citizenship and residency rules?

The VSL program has specific citizenship, visa and residency requirements. It is not available to every person who lives in Australia.

You must fall within an eligible category, which includes:

• an Australian citizen
• a permanent humanitarian visa holder who is usually resident in Australia
• a Pacific Engagement visa holder who is usually resident in Australia
• a qualifying New Zealand citizen.

Qualifying New Zealand citizens must hold a Special Category visa and satisfy the specific long-term residency tests. These include having usually lived in Australia for at least 10 years, having first become usually resident while under 18, having been in Australia for at least 8 of the previous 10 years, and having been in Australia for at least 18 months of the previous 2 years.

A New Zealand citizen relying on this category must be an SCV holder when applying. A New Zealand citizen who becomes an Australian permanent resident loses SCV status and does not qualify for VSL merely because they hold Australian permanent residency.

How do you prove academic suitability?

Your provider must decide that you are academically suited to the course. You must satisfy its student entry procedure and provide acceptable evidence.

Depending on your circumstances, acceptable evidence can include:

• an Australian Senior Secondary Certificate of Education showing completion of Year 12
• an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme diploma
• an eligible qualification at AQF Level 4 or above that meets the VSL requirements
• an approved literacy and numeracy assessment showing competence at or above Exit Level 3 of the Australian Core Skills Framework in both reading and numeracy.

Your provider must also reasonably believe that you are academically suited to complete the particular course and you must satisfy any other entry requirements for that course.

You need a TFN and USI before completing the loan application

You must supply both a Tax File Number (TFN) and Unique Student Identifier (USI). Your details are verified against government records through the eCAF process, so your name and other identifying details should match those held by the ATO and USI Register.

If you need a TFN and are an Australian resident, see how to apply for a Tax File Number as an Australian resident. If you do not yet have a USI, follow the procedure to create a Unique Student Identifier.

How do you apply through the eCAF?

You apply for VSL assistance through your approved course provider rather than lodging an independent loan application directly with the department. Your provider checks your eligibility and starts the Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF).

Before completing it, check that the provider has your correct personal details. The provider pre-fills information into the eCAF and the system verifies relevant details against ATO and USI records.

Read the eCAF carefully before submitting it. The form is your request for Commonwealth assistance for the eligible tuition fees covered by the application.

When is the VET Student Loan application deadline?

Your application must be submitted at least 2 business days after enrolling and by 11:59 pm AEST on or before the census day for the first unit of the course for which you are requesting a VET Student Loan.

If you submit the eCAF after a unit's census day, the loan cannot be applied retrospectively to that unit and you will need to pay its tuition fee yourself.

Census day is also important if you decide not to continue. If you withdraw from the relevant part of the course on or before its census day under the provider's withdrawal procedure, you avoid incurring VSL debt for that part. After census day, you generally become financially liable for the relevant tuition fees.

What if you are under 18?

If you are under 18, your parent or guardian generally needs to complete and sign the official VET Student Loans Parental Consent Form and you must give it to your provider before the provider gives you login details for your eCAF.

You do not need the parental consent form if Centrelink has assessed you at the independent rate of Youth Allowance. In that situation, you must give your provider your Centrelink Income Statement as evidence.

If you are considering student income support separately from your tuition loan, see the eligibility process for Youth Allowance for students and Australian Apprentices.

Does a VET Student Loan have a loan fee?

There is no separate application charge, but most students incur a 20% loan fee on the amount borrowed through a VET Student Loan. The loan fee is added automatically to the VETSL debt and does not reduce the student's HELP balance.

The 20% loan fee does not apply to state or territory government-subsidised students. If you are unsure whether your place is subsidised, ask your provider and check your Fee Notice.

Your VSL debt is also subject to the rules governing HELP debts, including indexation and compulsory repayment through the tax system when the applicable repayment conditions are met.

Check your HELP balance before borrowing

You cannot use VSL after you have exhausted your HELP loan limit. Your available HELP balance and the VSL cap for your particular course determine how much of your tuition fees can be borrowed.

A course can also cost more than its VSL loan cap. In that situation, the government loan will not automatically cover the difference. Ask your provider for its tuition fee schedule, Statement of Covered Fees and information about any gap amount you must pay yourself.

Check the notices your provider sends you

Your provider must give you information about the tuition fees and VSL amounts applying to your study. Your Fee Notice should show the relevant unit, tuition fee, VSL amount, any loan fee or gap amount and the census day. The provider must issue the Fee Notice at least 14 days before the census day.

After census day, your provider also issues a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) showing the Commonwealth assistance and debt information reported for you. Check these notices and contact your provider promptly if information is incorrect.

What happens if you withdraw from your course?

If you withdraw from a unit or part of the course on or before its census day using your provider's withdrawal process, you do not incur VSL debt for that part and eligible upfront tuition payments for it are refunded.

If you withdraw after census day, you will generally have incurred the VSL debt. In certain special circumstances that were beyond your control, did not make their full impact until on or after census day, and made it impracticable to complete the requirements, you may be able to ask your provider for a re-credit under the VSL rules.

VET Student Loans are different from HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP

VET Student Loans are specifically for eligible vocational education and training courses. They are not the same as HELP assistance for higher education.

If you have a Commonwealth Supported Place in higher education, the relevant program may instead be HECS-HELP. For an eligible full fee-paying higher education place, see the separate process to apply for FEE-HELP.

Check the type of course and provider before applying so that you use the student loan program that actually covers your enrolment.