21. Goods and services that must not be included in tuition fees

Some fees and charges are not covered by VSL. You may charge the student separately for these fees.

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You must not charge fees other than tuition fees unless you have procedures for ensuring that students understand:

  • the fees are not for tuition
  • the purpose of the fees
  • the student’s total liability for the fees
  • when and how they are to pay the fees.

You cannot include in the tuition fee the goods and services in the table below. You will need to charge a separate fee for any of these goods and services.

Goods and servicesExamples
Special admissions test
  • flight aptitude testing for aviation courses
Goods or services not essential to the course
  • access to internet and computer facilities, except where these are required as part of a course
  • printing of notes from the internet or a portable hard drive or disc
  • graduation ceremonies where students are not required to attend the ceremony to obtain their award
Alternative forms of access to goods or services essential to the course, (where the provider also provides readily available access in another form at no additional cost to students)
  • lecture notes or recordings, provided lectures are made readily available to students free of any additional charge (as lectures would be covered by tuition fees)
  • electronic provision of essential information if the information is also made readily available free of charge in another form (For example, at the library or through the provider’s intranet)
  • reading material, such as anthologies of required readings, provided these texts are also made readily available free of charge (For example, at the library or through the provider’s intranet).

Course related goods or services that students have the choice of acquiring from a supplier other than the provider and are for:

  • equipment or items that become the student’s physical property and are not consumed in the course

or

  • food, transport and accommodation costs associated with the provision of field trips that form part of the course
  • artwork supplies
  • fabric for sewing class
  • musical instruments
  • protective clothing or footwear
  • tool kits
  • stethoscopes
  • dance shoes
  • reference texts
  • meals, snacks, beverages
  • bus tickets or airfares
  • hotels or camping fees
Fines or penalties imposed principally as a disincentive (for something other than withdrawing from all or part of a course) and not to raise revenue or cover administrative costs
  • library fines

21.1 - Fees for special admissions tests

You may charge a fee for a special admissions test. A special admissions test determines whether the person seeking admission into a specialist approved course is suitable for the course. The test must be necessary to establish their suitability. It could include specialist auditions, tests and interviews that are different from the normal requirements for admissions.

21.2 - Course content and activities must be necessary

The course must not include content or activities which do not contribute to achieving the qualification. This requirement ensures students receive only the education they need for their qualification. It means they are not in effect being charged tuition fees for material that is not relevant to their qualification.

Therefore, when setting tuition fees, you must not include costs for content that is not necessary or relevant to the qualification.

21.3 - Students not liable for covered fees

If you enrol a student in a course, you must give them a written statement that you accept – or don’t accept – their enrolment on the basis that all or part of their tuition fees will be covered by a VET Student Loan. The written statement is known as a Statement of Covered Fees [part 43.1].

A provider cannot request a student to personally pay any tuition fees that are listed in a Statement of Covered Fees.