The VET Student Loan program is available for eligible EIT courses. This means eligible students can use a VET Student Loan to pay their tuition fees up to a maximum loan cap amount, to be repaid through the Australian Taxation System.
If you have been approved for a VET Student Loan (VSL):
The full list of EIT courses listed under the Your Career Government website is available here
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.