Information for students on how to access a VET Student Loan, including how to find approved courses and approved course providers.
On this page:
What’s New
For the latest announcements, updates and news on the VET Student Loans program, please see What’s New.
Delayed transfer of loan records
Sometimes there are delays in a student’s VET Student Loan data transferring to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The two common causes of this are faults in the VET loan data IT system, and the provider’s delayed reporting of complete and accurate VET Student Loan records.
For information and advice about delayed loan amounts now appearing on your ATO record, please read Delayed VET Student Loans.
For information and advice to VET students contacted by the department between August 2022 and July 2024 about historical loan amounts appearing on their ATO record, please read Transfer of historical loan records for VET students.
How to access a VET Student Loan
Find out if you are eligible to access a VET Student Loan, learn how to apply for the loan and see the resources available to assist you manage your loan.
Approved courses and approved providers
Courses approved for a VET Student Loan must be at the diploma level or above and meet certain eligibility criteria that ensures it aligns with industry needs and leads to good employment outcomes. Approved courses are allocated a maximum loan amount that can be borrowed for each course. You can find further information on the eligibility criteria and how loan caps are determined here:
You can search for courses and course providers, including VSL approved courses and VSL approved providers on the Your Career website. You can refine your search for courses by qualification, course feature, financial assistance and industry sector.
- Search for training courses | Your Career
- Search for training providers | Your Career
- VSL eligibility check | Your Career
- VSL Calculator | Your Career
Debt complaints
If you have an issue with your debt or a complaint about a provider there are formal complaints processes to have your problem addressed.
Tuition protection and provider default
If your VSL provider defaults, you may be eligible to access tuition protection assistance. Defaults are defined as failing to start to provide a course, or part of a course, on the day it was scheduled to start, and you have not withdrawn. Defaults also occur when the provider closes or ceases delivering your course.
Compliance
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations is committed to monitoring and enforcing the compliance of approved course providers with the VET Student Loans Act and the VET Student Loans Rules.
Government Assistance
You will find more information about government assistance for financing tertiary study on Study Assist.
Student Enquiries
If you have read the student information linked above and have further queries about applying for a VET Student Loan or about managing your loan, you can enquire with the department.