VSL (VET Student Loans)
Government loans for students undertaking eligible vocational education and training (VET) courses at diploma level and above.
VET Student Loans (VSL) is a government loan program that helps eligible students pay for tuition fees for higher-level vocational education and training (VET) courses — specifically, diploma, advanced diploma, graduate diploma, and graduate certificate courses approved under the scheme. VSL replaced the VET FEE-HELP scheme from 1 January 2017, with stronger consumer protections and provider oversight.
VSL loans have a capped amount that varies by course and field of study. For 2025-26, the caps range from approximately $5,000 to $16,500 depending on the course category. VSL carries a 20% loan fee on courses that are not state or territory subsidised — the fee is added to the VETSL debt automatically and is not counted against the HELP loan limit. HECS-HELP, by contrast, has no loan fee. The debt is indexed and repaid through the tax system using the same repayment income thresholds and rates as HELP/HECS debts.
To be eligible, you must be an Australian citizen (or qualifying New Zealand citizen or permanent humanitarian visa holder), enrolled in an approved course at an approved provider, and meet academic suitability requirements. Providers must assess your ability to complete the course before offering VSL. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations publishes a list of approved providers and courses on its website.
How it works
VET Student Loans fund higher-level vocational education — diploma, advanced diploma, graduate diploma, and graduate certificate courses — at approved providers, and replaced the earlier VET FEE-HELP scheme from 1 January 2017 with tighter provider oversight. Each course carries its own capped loan amount, roughly $5,000 to $16,500 for 2025-26 depending on the course category, rather than a single flat amount available to every student.
In practice, a VSL debt is recorded with the ATO in much the same way as a HELP debt, and it's repaid using the same repayment income thresholds and rates once your income crosses the compulsory repayment threshold. To get a VSL, you need to be enrolled in an approved course at an approved provider, and the provider must complete an academic suitability assessment before offering you the loan.
Only diploma-level courses and above qualify — lower-level VET certificates aren't covered by VSL at all, which trips people up who assume any vocational course is eligible. Because a VSL debt sits alongside any HELP debt under the same repayment income test, someone with both debt types still makes a single combined compulsory repayment based on their total repayment income, not two separate repayments running side by side. The loan cap is also set per course by the provider, so how much you can borrow depends on the specific course and provider, not a flat per-person ceiling.
Example: a VSL-funded diploma
A student enrols in an approved diploma course with a total cost of $14,000, within the roughly $5,000–$16,500 VSL cap range for that course category in 2025-26. Rather than paying upfront, they take out a VSL loan covering the full $14,000.
Repayment is deferred until their repayment income — combining any income from work with study — exceeds the compulsory repayment threshold, at which point it's repaid using exactly the same rates and thresholds as a HELP debt, indexed each 1 June in the meantime.
Related Terms
HELP/HECS Debt
A government loan for tertiary education tuition fees, repaid through the tax system once your income exceeds the minimum threshold.
Repayment Income
The income measure used to calculate compulsory HELP/HECS repayments — taxable income plus other adjustments.
Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)
A university place where the government subsidises part of the tuition cost, with the student paying a reduced "student contribution".
HELP Indexation
Annual adjustment of HELP debt balances on 1 June, using the lower of CPI or Wage Price Index since 2023.