25. Fee periods

The following sections apply to the charging of tuition fees by approved course providers, which are not Table A providers.

On this page:

You must set at least 3 fee periods for each approved course.

This ensures students incur debts evenly as they progress through a course. It also allows students to indicate to us their progression and engagement throughout their course to continue to access a VET Student Loan.

The fee periods of the course must:

  • be sequential
  • together equal the duration of the course
  • be of equal (or approximately equal) length based on the estimated duration of the course
  • each contain at least one census day for the course.

Tuition fees and any gap fees must be reasonably spread across fee periods and the parts of the course within them. Tuition fees cannot be made payable outside of a fee period.

You may set different fee periods for different students. For example, part-time students may have longer fee periods.

There is no requirement for you to publish fee periods.

25.1 - Length of fee periods

The length of a fee period depends on the duration of the course. You should structure your courses so there is enough time between enrolment and the start of the course to allow:

  • the 2-business day gap between enrolment and requesting a loan
  • the time required for issuing fee notices.

You may change the length of fee periods yet to start – for example, to match a change to the overall duration of the course. However, the changed fee periods must still be of equal or approximately equal length. For example, if a student switches from full-time to part-time study, the length of their course – and consequently of their fee periods – may increase.

25.2 - Fee periods and complying with state or territory funding arrangements

You don’t have to comply with the fee period requirements (see above) if they’re inconsistent with an arrangement you’ve made with a state or territory authority, and:

  • you are fully complying with that arrangement
  • you have provided written notice to the Secretary of the department describing:
  • the arrangement
  • your full compliance with the arrangement
  • how the arrangement prevents you from complying with the fee period requirements
  • the extent of the non-compliance.

You may give this written notice to the Secretary via the online enquiry form on Provider Enquiries.

Legislation: Rules s 122–124