Government Student Loans

Loan schemes are provided by the government to assist eligible students in the payment of part or all of their tuition fees. AIT is able to provide two loan schemes; FEE-HELP for Higher Education accredited courses and VET Student Loans for Vocational accredited courses. The government directly pays AIT the amount of the loan, and you pay it back through the Australian taxation system once your annual income reaches the minimum repayment threshold.

FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans don’t attract interest but a CPI increase is applied every June 1st for amounts that have been unpaid for 11 months or more.

Read more about FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans.

FEE-HELP is a loan scheme provided by the government that assists eligible students in the payment of part or all of their Higher Education program’s tuition fees. 

Over your lifetime, you may borrow up to the combined HELP loan limit. If you apply at AIT, the limit is $126,839 effective from 1 January 2025. In addition, there is a one-off loan fee* of 20%, imposed by the government, for undergraduate courses and vocational courses of study. The government pays AIT the amount of the loan, and you pay it back through the Australian taxation system once your annual taxable income reaches the minimum repayment threshold.

You begin to pay back your HELP debt through the tax system once you earn above the compulsory repayment threshold. The compulsory repayment threshold is different each year.

• The compulsory repayment threshold for the 2025-2026 income year will be $67,000.

This amount is subject to change annually. You may view the threshold here.

Read more about FEE-HELP

• FEE-HELP Information Booklet

You are eligible for a FEE-HELP Loan if you:

• Are enrolled in a FEE-HELP Loans-approved course offered by a FEE-HELP Loans-approved provider.
• Are an Australian citizen; are a permanent humanitarian visa holder or an eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder, who studies the entire course while living in Australia; or are a New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder who meets the long-term residency requirements.
• Have an available HELP balance of more than $0 (that is, have sufficient HELP balance remaining).
• Have a valid Unique Student Identifier (USI)
• Have a valid Tax File Number (TFN) or a Certificate of application for a TFN by the census date.
• Have not undertaken more than 2 years’ worth of higher education study in the last 12 months

If you are aged under 18 at the time of applying for a VET Student Loan you must complete the Parental Consent Form and submit this to AIT before we can provide you with an eCAF (Student loan application form).

Australia has an excellent reputation for quality education. However, sometimes an education provider may close unexpectedly, fail to start a unit or course that students are enrolled in or stop offering a unit or course part-way through your higher education studies. Closing, failing to start, or stopping a unit or course part way through is called a default.

If your education provider defaults, the TPS may be able to help you.

Please see the links below for more information:

TPS for International Students

TPS for VSL Students

TPS for Higher Education Students

A VET Student Loan is a loan scheme provided by the government that assists eligible students in the payment of part or all of their Vocational programs tuition fees. Academy of Information Technology is an approved VET Student Loans provider. The loan applies to eligible courses at the Diploma level or above.

There is a limit to how much you can borrow, called the ‘loan cap’. The loan cap amount is different depending on the course you study. Find more detail here

Over your lifetime, you may borrow up to the combined HELP loan limit (VSL included). If you apply at AIT, the limit is $126,839 for 2025. In addition, there is a one-off loan fee* of 20%, imposed by the government, for undergraduate courses and vocational courses of study. The government pays AIT the amount of the loan, and you pay it back through the Australian taxation system once your annual taxable income reaches the minimum repayment threshold.

Eligible students can apply for a loan to pay for their fees up to capped amounts through the Commonwealth Government’s VET Student Loans scheme.

As the difference between the loan cap and course price varies by study mode, please contact us to understand what this means for you.

You begin to pay back your HELP debt through the tax system once you earn above the compulsory repayment threshold. The compulsory repayment threshold is different each year.

• The compulsory repayment threshold for the 2025-2026 income year will be $67,000.

This amount is subject to change annually. You may view the threshold here.

For more information, read the VET Student Loan Booklet  or the VSL section of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

You are eligible for a VET Student Loan if you:

• Are enrolled in a VET Student Loans-approved course offered by a VET Student Loans provider.
• Are an Australian citizen; a permanent humanitarian visa holder who usually reside in Australia; or are a a qualifying New Zealand Special Category Visa holder, who meets the long-term residency requirements
• Have an available HELP balance of more than $0 (that is, have sufficient HELP balance remaining).
• Have a valid Unique Student Identifier (USI)
• Have a valid Tax File Number (TFN) or a Certificate of application for a TFN by the census date.
• Meet the Academic Suitability Requirements as stated in the  VET Student Loan Booklet 

If you are aged under 18 at the time of applying for a VET Student Loan you must complete the Parental Consent Form and submit this to AIT before we can provide you with an eCAF (Student loan application form).

For more information, read the VET Student Loan Booklet  or the VSL section of the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The first Census Date is the date by which you will need to submit your application for FEE-HELP or VET Student Loan. This is the date by which you can also withdraw from a Unit of Study without penalty or incurring any fees, or a FEE-HELP or VET Student Loan debt.

If you use either of the Commonwealth government’s student loan schemes (FEE-HELP or VET Student Loan), the information you provide as part of the application process will automatically be copied to Services Australia upon submission.