To be an eligible student, you must meet the following criteria.

You are:

• an Australian citizen; or
• a qualifying New Zealand citizen*; 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.

*A qualifying New Zealand citizen is a New Zealand citizen who meets all of the following:

• holds a special visa category, such as the New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV);
• has been usually resident in Australia for at least 10 years;
• was a dependent child when he or she was first usually resident in Australia;
• has been in Australia for periods totalling 8 years during the previous 10 years; and
• has been in Australia for periods totalling 18 months during the previous 2 years.

To be able to apply for a VET Student Loan, you must meet one of the following academic suitability requirements;

• Provide a copy of a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education for your completion of year 12 (Australian Year 12 Certificate); OR
• Provide a copy of a diploma that has been awarded for the completion of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program; OR
• Provide a copy of a successfully completed Certificate level 4 or above in the Australian Qualifications Framework and delivered in English; OR
• Undertake under AMAB’s supervision a literacy and numeracy test using AMAB’s nominated LLN testing tool Basic Key Skills Builder (BKSB) and display competency at or above Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF).

AACM may require a student to undertake a LLN test in addition to providing the required information above. This is to ensure that AMAB is satisfied that you are academically suited to undertake your Diploma course.

All VET Student Loan amounts incurred on census days from 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2021 will not incur the usual 20% loan fee. This follows the Australian Government announcement of the loan fee exemption in the Higher Education Relief Package on 12 April and further extension announcement on 30 September 2020. You will not need to do anything for the exemption to be applied. Student VET Student Loan debt records with the ATO will automatically reflect the loan fee exemption.

A 20% loan fee applies to VET Student Loans.  The loan fee does not count towards your HELP loan limit. You do not have to pay the loan fee upfront – it is added to your VET Student Loan debt at the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

For example, if you are undertaking a course that costs $5,000, and you intend to access a loan for the full cost of the course, the loan fee will be $1,000 (i.e. 20% of $5,000). So your VET Student Loan debt for that course will be the loan amount accessed ($5,000) + the loan fee ($1,000) = $6,000. You will incur the loan fee as you progress through your course on a per-unit basis – it is added to the loan amount you access for each unit.

You do not incur the loan fee if you are a student who is subsidised by a state or territory government and you are studying a diploma or advanced diploma course. If you are not sure if you are a subsidised VET student, contact your provider directly.