EIT courses approved for VSL:
The full list of EIT courses listed under the Your Career Government website is available here
Eligibility Criteria
Who is eligible for a VSL?
The best way to check your eligibility is to use the interactive tool provided by the My Skills Government website
here.
Citizenship
To be eligible for a VET Student Loan, you must either:
- be an Australian citizen, or
- hold an eligible permanent humanitarian visa and usually reside in Australia, or
- be a New Zealand citizen on Special Category Visa (SCV subclass 444) and meets the following long-term residency requirements:
- You began living in Australia at least 10 years before applying for a loan, and at that time, you were a child under 18 years of age and did not have a spouse or de-facto partner; and you have resided in Australia for at least eight of the 10 years immediately prior to applying and at least 18 months of the last two years.
Note: Holders of other permanent visas and temporary visas are NOT eligible for a VET Student Loan
In addition to the Citizenship requirements, you must also meet the following:
Academic Suitability Requirements
To be eligible for a VET Student Loan, you must be able to provide a copy of one of the following:
- Australian Year 12 certificate or International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) Diploma, or
- Achievement of an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) qualification at level four or above. A transcript of your USI register for qualifications after 2015, is also acceptable, or
- Achievement of an approved Australian Government assessed overseas qualification, or
- A certificate of an approved literacy and numeracy assessment demonstrating achievement of ACSF Exit Level 3 or above.
Additional Requirements
You must also meet the following enrolment and loan application requirements:
- Provide EIT with information and documents confirming your identity and date of birth, and to establish that you meet the eligibility requirements for a VET Student Loan.
- Be over 18 years of age
- have a tax file number (TFN) or have applied for one. The personal details of your TFN with the Australian Tax Office must match the personal details you have provided to EIT, for example your name and date of birth (see Commonwealth TFN Student Fact Sheet). If you have applied for a TFN, but have not been issued with one yet, you must provide a certificate from the Commissioner stating that you have applied for one.
- have a Unique Student Identifier (USI) or be exempt
- intend to undertake your course primarily in Australia
- Submit an online course application form
- not have exceeded your lifetime Commonwealth student loan limit, which is set each year by the Commonwealth
- have read the VET Student Loans information booklet.
- have given any requested documentation to EIT and submitted the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) online by the first census day no less than two business days after enrolling, and
- comply with ongoing Commonwealth engagement and progression requests to log on to complete your online student engagement form to confirm that you are a genuine student, continuing to study and the progress in your course. You will get these requests two or three times a year, depending on how long your course is. If you do not complete the form and survey within 14 days, you will become ineligible to continue accessing VET Student Loans to pay for the remainder of your course tuition fees.
IMPORTANT NOTE: students must meet all the Requirements listed above to qualify for a VET Student Loan. VET student loans will not be approved for students who do not meet eligibility requirements.
Language Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) Assessment
Where you cannot provide evidence of the Academic Suitability Requirements outlined above, EIT will enrol you into The Learning Resources Group LLN Robot Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) assessment (an “Approved Government Skills Assessment” for VET Student Loans) to determine your Language Literacy and Numeracy Skills, as follows:
- You will be enrolled into a reading and numeracy assessment and must demonstrate achievement of ACSF Exit Level 3 for both reading and numeracy
- Access to the LLN Robot assessment will be provided to you via email in the form of a link and login details.
When will you find out your LLN Assessment results?
If you receive an outcome of ACSF Exit Level 3 or higher for both reading and numeracy in the LLN Robot assessment, you will receive notification from EIT with the assessment results as soon as practicable. You may then continue with the VSL application process.
If you receive an outcome less than ACSF Exit Level 3 for at least one or both reading and numeracy, you will not meet the Academic Suitability Requirements for a VET Student Loan and your VSL application will be rejected. You will receive notification from EIT with the assessment results as soon as practicable and will be given the opportunity to re-sit the LLN assessment after three months, or when you have completed sufficient training to prepare to re-sit the LLN test.
EIT can offer you supporting learning resources which may assist you in improving your reading and numeracy level in readiness to re-sit the LLN assessment. These supporting resources are to be completed by you, at your own pace, and are provided at no cost to you.
Is there a cost to sit / re-sit an LLN Assessment?
There is no cost to you to sit or resit the LLN assessment. This includes any required supporting resources if you are required to re-sit the assessment.
What is the pass rate?
You will be required to demonstrate achievement of ACSF Exit Level 3 or above in reading and numeracy. Click
here for more information.
How to apply for VSL
Applying for a VET Student Loan is separate from your course application with EIT.
During your application submission, you will be asked to indicate if you want to apply for a VET Student Loan (VSL) in the relevant section. If you are accepted into an approved VSL course and wish to apply for a VSL, you will be contacted by our VSL team who will assess your eligibility.
Once our VSL team has confirmed you are eligible for a VSL we will give your enrolment information to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) through the electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF) system. You will then receive an auto-generated email from the eCAF system providing details on how to sign into the eCAF system so that you can submit a Request for a VET Student Loan eCAF. This is your formal application for a VET Student Loan.
The last day to apply for the VET Student Loan is the census date for the course you are applying for, but we recommend the application be made as soon as possible to avoid any delays.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations(DEWR) may contact you to confirm enrolment and that you wish to use VET Student Loan funds. If your contact details change, you need to update them with both EIT and the DEWR.
What is a Unique Student Identifier (USI)?
The Commonwealth requires all students studying in a nationally recognised training course to have a USI. If you already have one, please ensure you use this same USI whenever you enrol for any training. If you don’t have a USI, go to https://www.usi.gov.au/ to register before you apply to enrol.
Census dates and payment procedure
EIT’s census dates are listed under each course and on the Census Date page of our website.
The census date is the last day when a student can withdraw from their course and apply for a VET Student Loan. If you withdraw after the census date you will incur tuition fees and academic penalties for part of your course. After the census date has passed the fee for the Fee Period is charged and becomes part of a student’s debt incurred.
If you have concerns about starting the course, wish to move to the next intake, or decide to withdraw from your course for any reason, please contact your LSO (Learning Support Officer) BEFORE the census date, to avoid incurring debt and academic penalties.
Withdrawing or Deferring from an Approved Course
When withdrawing or deferring, a final progression form will be triggered from the eCAF system. Students have two weeks to respond to the progression form which will advise the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) of their withdrawal / deferral from the course. For more information on withdrawing, deferring, or cancelling your course or unit/module enrolment, please refer to the following EIT Policies:
VET Student Loans Withdrawal, Deferral and Cancellation Policy
VET Student Loans Debt Review and Recredit Policy
All EIT policies are available here.
Where can I get more information on VET Student Loans?
Comprehensive and up-to-date information is available via the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Study Assist websites. Please study these resources carefully before applying for a VET Student Loan. We encourage you to seek independent financial advice before you commit to a VSL.
For further information, our VSL team is available for contact at VSL@eit.edu.au.
Loan repayment
A VET student loan is a personal debt incurred by a student. It will need to be repaid after the student’s income hits the minimum payment threshold set by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR). Compulsory repayments are organized through the ATO.
To help you understand your debt before you take out the loan, please check the VET Student Loans Calculator
You can learn more about repaying your VET student loan through the ATO here.
Lifetime Loan Limit
The lifetime loan limit is the total amount you can incur in your lifetime under any Commonwealth HELP student loan scheme – whether it is Higher Education FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP or a VET Student Loan. It is indexed each year, in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). For 2024, the HELP loan limit is $121,844 for most students. Students can view their loan obligations by logging into myHELPbalance on the Study Assist website.
Course fees
Fees for Approved VSL Courses are charged by Fee Periods; there are at least three Fee Periods for each course and payments will be spread across the duration of the course. Each Fee Period has a census day*, set at no less than 20% into the Fee Period.
Students will be sent a VET Student Loan Fee Notice 14 days before each census day, with payable fees and census days. Please note that student debt is incurred on the day after the census day. After a census day has passed, EIT will send a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) for the respective Fee Period. The CAN will provide information about your debt, including the loan fee if applicable. If you believe your CAN is incorrect, please contact our VSL team immediately.
* Please refer to our VET Course Fee Period Census Dates
Appeals and Grievances
EIT has comprehensive appeals and grievance procedures which can be accessed here.
EIT has a Tuition Protection Policy outlining how students’ tuition fees are protected, which can be accessed here.