VET Student Loans
Bedford College is a government-approved VET Student Loans (VSL) provider for Diploma level qualifications where students meet the eligibility requirements.
Designed to provide financial assistance to students undertaking higher level training, the program assists eligible students in completing courses that address workplace and industry needs.
If you are a domestic student studying a Diploma course at Bedford, you may be eligible to apply for a VET Student Loan (VSL).
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations may approve your VSL for an approved course and will pay your loan directly to Bedford.
As the loan amount is capped, you will be responsible for any gap amount in the tuition fees, which are not covered by the loan. You will then owe a debt to the Australian Government for the loan, which will be managed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Student Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for a VET Student Loan, you must meet the eligibility criteria as outlined below:
- Be an Australian citizen, a New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder who meets the long-term residency requirements, or are a permanent humanitarian visa holder. (Proof of Australian Citizenship is required i.e Australian Birth Certificate or Australian Passport).
- Have not exceeded the FEE-HELP limit.
- Can provide your Australian Year 12 Certificate; or International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) Diploma, OR evidence of successful completion of an AQF Certificate IV on higher (where the language of instruction was in English) OR can display competence of Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework in both reading and numeracy through an approved test. (Bedford College can provide an ACSF test to you if required, the results of assessing a student’s competence in reading and numeracy under the procedure must be reported to the student as soon as practicable after the assessment and be reported to the Secretary in the form, manner and by the time requested by the Secretary).
- Meet the Tax File Number (TFN) requirements. See the Enrolment page for more TFN Information.
- Have a Unique Student Identifier (USI). See the Enrolment page for more USI information.
- Have read the VET Student Loans information booklet produced by the Australian Government.
How much can you borrow?
The amount you can borrow for a VSL is capped depending on the course and therefore, may not cover the entire cost of your tuition fees. Here’s what you need to know:
- $10,000-$16,000 is what you can borrow on a VET Student Loan (VSL), depending on the ‘loan cap’. The loan cap amount is different depending on the course you study.
- Using the VSL system, you are automatically charged a 20% loan fee. $10,000 becomes $12,000.
- VSL is interest-free. However, the loan is indexed annually in line with the consumer price index (CPI).
- You start paying back the loan through the Australian Taxation Office as soon as your income is above the minimum repayment income threshold of $51,550 for 2023-2024.
Commonwealth benefits may be available for eligible applicants
Entry requirements
No ATAR? No problem! With an entry requirement of Year 10 completion for domestic students, you could be only one year to a career.
Enrolment
Throughout the year, we love to welcome new faces to our College. Here’s the process for enrolling into Bedford.
Scholarships
Our scholarships are made as a reduction of fees and give students opportunities they might not otherwise have.