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VET STUDENT LOANS

From 1 January 2017, VET Student Loans replaces VET FEE HELP Loans.  Builders Academy Australia is an approved provider for VET Student Loans.

What is the VET Student Loans program?

The VET Student Loans program is an Australian Government loan program.

VET Student Loans is a payment option available for eligible students to pay their tuition fees for the CPC50210 Diploma of Building and Construction (Building). You repay the Australian Government Loan when your income is higher than the minimum repayment threshold.

The government will pay the loan amount directly to BAA and you will repay the government the loan amount (plus loan fee and any indexation).

Once you take out the loan, you will owe a debt to the Australian Government for the loan, which will be managed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

This payment option is only available for CPC50210 Diploma of Building and Construction (Building).

How does the loan work?

The loan amount is capped by the Federal Government at $15,793.  You will be required to pay the difference between the cost of the course and the loan amount directly to BAA.  This is known as the gap amount.

There is a loan fee equal to 20% of the amount that you borrow.  BAA does not receive the loan fee. Loans do not attract interest, but are indexed annually.  It’s important that you understand your obligation when taking out a VET Student Loan. Further details are available on the Study Assist website and in the VET Student Loans information booklet. You may wish to seek independent financial advice before applying for a loan.

BAA has divided your course into three equal calendar periods known as the ‘Fee Periods’ and each Fee Period has a set fee. BAA’s Fee Periods are equal to Units of Study.

Each Unit of Study has a date known as the ‘census day’ this is the day after which you will incur the debt for that Unit of Study. If you change your mind, you can withdraw on or before a census day and you will not incur any payment liability for that Unit of Study or any subsequent Units of Study.

Any gap payment must be paid by you prior to each census day.

The Gap fee is the difference between the VET student loan amount ($10,342) and course cost.

BAA will confirm your census days in writing and the amount you will be required to pay for each Unit of Study.

We will also issue an invoice notice to you prior to each census day.  In addition, within 28 days after the census day, we will issue a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) to confirm the loan amount that you have incurred.

 

Am I eligible to take out the loan?

To be an eligible student, you must meet ALL of these criteria – further detailed below.

You are:

  • an Australian citizen, or
  • a qualifying New Zealand citizen1,  or
  • a permanent humanitarian visa holder, who is usually resident in Australia.

Your HELP balance (the amount of your HELP loan limit you have left) is more than $0. This means you have enough HELP loan limit remaining for your proposed studies to be covered by the loan. The HELP loan limit is the limit on how much you can borrow. Any borrowing under FEE-HELP, VET FEE-HELP, VET Student Loans and, from 1 January 2020, HECS-HELP will count towards your HELP loan limit.

You are enrolled with an approved course provider in an approved course and have enrolled in accordance with the application requirements.

You are studying the approved course primarily at a campus in Australia.

You have been assessed by your approved course provider as academically suited to undertake the approved course on the basis of either:

  • providing your Australian Year 12 Certificate; OR
  • providing your International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) diploma OR
  • providing a copy of a certificate showing you have been awarded a qualification at level 4 or above in the Australian Qualifications Framework (where the language of instruction was English)2; or at a level in a framework that preceded the AQF and is equivalent to level 4 or above in the AQF, OR
  • displaying competence at Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework in both reading and numeracy through an approved Language, Literacy and Numeracy test.
  • In addition, your approved course provider must reasonably believe you show competence in completing the course.
  • You meet the Tax File Number (TFN) requirements.
  • You have a Unique Student Identifier (USI) or are otherwise exempt.
  • You have given the required documents to your approved course provider and submitted the loan application form by the first census day no less than two business days after enrolling.

To be an approved course, your course must:

  • be specified by the VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Determination 2016 (the courses and loan caps determination): and
  • for state-government subsidised students, lead to a qualification of diploma or advanced diploma in the Australian Qualifications Framework; or
  • for full fee-paying / fee for service students, lead to a qualification of diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or graduate diploma in the Australian Qualifications Framework; and
  • be provided by an approved course provider; and  be delivered by an approved course provider or an entity registered with TEQSA or a body approved by the Department to deliver the course.

Links and key documents

For further information, please read BAA Student Handbook and visit Study Assist