1
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 4
THE VET FEE-HELP ASSISTANCE SCHEME .................................................................... 4
VET FEE-HELP STATISTICAL REPORT .......................................................................... 4
DATA CAVEATS........................................................................................................ 5
DEFINITIONS .......................................................................................................... 5
STUDENTS .......................................................................................................... 6
THE ELIGIBLE STUDENT .............................................................................................. 7
Qualification level ........................................................................................... 7
Age groups and gender .................................................................................. 7
Full fee paying and government subsidised students ...................................... 8
Attendance and mode of study ....................................................................... 8
Identified demographic groups ....................................................................... 9
STUDENTS ACCESSING VET FEE-HELP ASSISTANCE ....................................................... 10
Qualification level ......................................................................................... 10
Age groups and gender ................................................................................ 11
Full fee paying and government subsidised students .................................... 12
Attendance and mode of study ..................................................................... 12
Identified demographic groups ..................................................................... 13
ELIGIBLE AND VET FEE-HELP ASSISTED COURSE ENROLMENTS ........................................ 16
FIELD OF EDUCATION COURSE ENROLMENTS ................................................................. 16
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT .................................................................................. 20
TUITION FEES ................................................................................................... 21
State/Territory analysis ................................................................................ 24
FULL FEE PAYING STUDENTS...................................................................................... 24
Qualification Level ........................................................................................ 24
Field of Education ......................................................................................... 25
PROVIDERS ...................................................................................................... 26
TABLES ............................................................................................................. 28
STUDENTS – VET FEE-HELP ELIGIBLE & ASSISTED STUDENTS - 2010 ............................... 28
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND COURSE COMPLETION - 2010............................................. 28
TUITION FEES AND EXPENDITURE - 2010 ..................................................................... 28
VET PROVIDERS PROVIDING VET FEE-HELP - 2010 .................................................... 29
APPENDIX TABLES - 2010 ....................................................................................... 29
2
Executive summary
This report provides an analysis on student’s eligibility and uptake of
Vocational Education and Training (VET) FEE-HELP assistance for 2010 and
compares results for the VET FEE-HELP scheme in 2009.
The report analyses data provided by approved VET providers for 2010 and
provides demographic information on the student population, comparing age
groupings, gender, study modes and level of qualification. Comparisons with
2009 data are included where available.
Overall 54,569 students were eligible to access VET FEE-HELP assistance and to
take out a loan to pay for all or part of their tuition fees in 2010. This is a
significant increase from 2009 where 19,273 students were eligible. The increase
in VET provider approvals from the end of 2009 and during 2010, is likely to be a
contributing factor to this significant increase in eligible students.
The number of students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance also increased
significantly from 5,262 in 2009 to 26,112 in 2010. Over 76% of these students
were studying qualifications at the diploma level and over 65% were female.
The report also provides information on the student cohorts particularly on the
following groups:






Indigenous Australians;
Students from non-English speaking backgrounds;
Students with a disability;
Students from regional/remote areas;
Students from the lowest socio-economic quintile; and
Students not in employment.
In 2010 strong growth occurred in the number of students from these
demographic groups eligible for, and accessing VET FEE-HELP. This is an
indication that VET FEE-HELP assistance is helping to remove the financial barriers
to students undertaking tertiary qualifications.
Further strong growth from these demographic groups is expected through 2011
as VET FEE-HELP assistance enters its third year of operation, the number of
approved VET providers continue to increase and awareness of the scheme
increases. At the time of preparing this report data for 2011 was not available.
3
Introduction
The VET FEE-HELP assistance scheme
The VET FEE-HELP assistance scheme was established in 2009 to provide
opportunities for more Australians to undertake qualifications at diploma level or
above, without facing the disincentive of having to pay up-front tuition fees.
VET FEE-HELP is an income contingent loan scheme which is an extension of the
higher education FEE-HELP arrangements. Students undertaking Vocational
Education and Training (VET) courses of study at the diploma, advanced diploma,
graduate certificate and graduate diploma level with an approved VET provider
can access the scheme. VET FEE-HELP assists eligible students to pay for all or part
of their tuition fees.
Students eligible to access VET FEE-HELP can be enrolled as either full-fee paying
students (i.e. those students who are personally responsible for paying for the full
cost of their VET tuition), or certain government subsidised students in a reform
state (students who have all or part of their tuition expenses paid for by their
State or Territory government). Currently the only reform state is Victoria.
Government subsidised students in Victoria can access VET FEE-HELP to cover the
subsidised cost of their tuition fees for diploma and advanced diploma level
courses.
Under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA), VET providers are required
to report data on all students who are eligible for VET FEE-HELP assistance.
Specifications for the data reported are provided online at the DEEWR
HEIMSHELP internet site: www.heimshelp.deewr.gov.au.
VET FEE-HELP Statistical Report
The 2010 VET FEE-HELP Statistical Report is the second in a series of statistical
reports based on the VET FEE-HELP Student Data Collection. This report provides
a statistical overview of the VET FEE-HELP assistance scheme for 2010 and broadly
covers the following areas:





4
VET FEE-HELP eligible and assisted students
Course enrolments and field of education
Student achievement and course completions
Tuition fees
VET provider level statistics
Data caveats
Data reporting for the VET FEE-HELP assistance scheme began in 2009.
The relative infancy of the scheme and the challenges associated with data
collection to date suggests that, figures including in this report need to be
interpreted with some caution. These include:



Reporting issues, including unintentional reporting errors and uncertainty
with data reporting requirements for some, may affect the data results;
Providers not reporting a full year of data, in particular in 2009, in some
instances may have resulted in lower figures being reported; and
Comparisons between 2009 (partial year collection) and 2010 (full year
collection) figures will affect comparative analysis.
Definitions
Assisted student – a student who has accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance to pay
for all or part of their tuition fees for an approved VET course of study.
Approved VET provider – a registered training organisation that has been
approved by the Minister to offer VET FEE-HELP assistance to its students for at
least one VET course of study.
Eligible student – Any student enrolled in a VET course of study at an approved
VET provider who is, or would be entitled, to VET FEE-HELP assistance under
clause 43 of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support ACT 2003.
Full fee paying student – a student enrolled in a VET course of study at an
approved VET provider for which the VET provider does not receive any funding
from a State, Territory or the Commonwealth in relation to the student’s
enrolment in that VET course of study.
Government subsidised student – students who have part of their tuition
expenses paid for by their State or Territory government.
Reform State – is any State or Territory that, by written agreement with the
Minister is a reform State or Territory for the purposes of VET FEE-HELP.
Student accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance – The eligible student who chooses to
access VET FEE-HELP assistance to pay for all or part of their tuition fees for an
approved VET course of study.
VET – Vocational Education and Training
VET Course of study – a VET program that leads to the award of a VET diploma,
VET advanced diploma, VET graduate diploma or a VET graduate certificate.
5
Students
In analysing the ‘student’ in regard to the VET FEE-HELP assistance scheme we are
considering both ‘the eligible student’ and ‘the student accessing the scheme’.
The eligible student cohort consists of all students who meet the eligibility
requirements, i.e. they are an Australian citizen or permanent humanitarian visa
holder, and enrolled in a unit of study that forms part of an eligible VET course
with an approved provider. Whereas the student accessing the scheme or ‘VET
FEE-HELP assisted student’, covers the eligible students who have chosen to
access VET FEE-HELP assistance to pay for all or part of their tuition fees and incur
an income contingent loan. The following analysis focuses on the student;
including demographics, mode of study, field of education, qualification level and
course progress.
The total number of students who were eligible to access VET FEE-HELP grew by
183% in 2010 over 2009 and the number of students who chose to incur an
income contingent loan for their course tuition fees through VET FEE-HELP nearly
quadrupled from 2009. Of the 54,569 eligible students in 2010 close to half (48%)
chose to access VET FEE-HELP for at least part of their tuition fees. This was a
significant increase from 2009 where only 27% of eligible students accessed the
scheme, see figure 1.
Figure 1: Number of eligible students and VET FEE-HELP assisted students,
2009 and 2010
Number of students
Total students: 54,569
60,000
50,000
26,112
40,000
VET FEE-HELP
assisted students
30,000
20,000
Eligible students
not assisted
Total students: 19,273
5,262
10,000
28,457
14,011
0
2009
6
Year
2010
The eligible student
This section focuses on the eligible student, that is students who met the
eligibility criteria and were enrolled in an eligible VET course at a registered
training organisation that is approved to offer VET FEE-HELP. Of the total eligible
students, 78% were studying at a TAFE institute, with the remaining 22% studying
at a private VET provider.
Qualification level
Eligible student numbers across all qualification levels applicable to VET FEE-HELP
showed significant growth in 2010. In 2010 eligible students studying diploma
level courses accounted for 76% of all eligible students, advanced diploma 24%
and vocational graduate certificate and vocational graduate diploma accounting
for less than 1%. The increase in eligible student numbers by level of qualification
from 2009 to 2010 is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of eligible students by qualification level, 2009 and 2010
Qualification Level
Eligible students
2009
2010
Diploma
Advanced Diploma
Vocational Graduate Certificate
Vocational Graduate Diploma
Total
14,671
4,519
30
53
19,273
41,202
12,921
364
82
54,569
% Change
from 2009
180.8
185.9
1113.3
54.7
183.1
Age groups and gender
The distribution of eligible students in 2010 across age and gender groups was
similar to that shown in 2009 and was as follows:
 49% were under 25 years of age (26,453);

37% were aged between 25-44 years (20,417);
 14% were aged over 45 years (7,699).
 60% were female (32,814); and
 40% were male (21,755).
Eligible students under the age of 25 were more likely to be undertaking
qualifications at the diploma level, with 19,094 enrolled in diploma level
qualifications, this represents nearly three quarters (72%) of the total eligible
students.
7
The majority (66%) of the 41,202 eligible students studying a diploma level
qualification in 2010 were female. This is slightly higher than in 2009 where 61%
were female. However, for the advanced diploma level qualification the genders
were reversed. In 2010, of the 12,921 advanced diploma level eligible students,
51% were male, a slight decrease from 2009 where 54% were male.
Full fee paying and government subsidised students
Of the total eligible students in 2010, 57% (30,958) were government subsidised
students, a slight increase from 2009 (54%).
Of the government subsidised students in 2010, 45% were male, unchanged from
2009. However, of the full fee paying students, a significantly smaller proportion
(33%) were male in 2010, this was a decrease of six percentage points from 2009.
Student attendance between full fee paying and government subsidised students
showed marked differences. In 2009, 72% of government subsidised students
undertook their course part-time, this reduced to 50% in 2010. Of the full fee
paying students in 2009, 39% undertook their course part-time reducing to 30% in
2010.
Attendance and mode of study
The majority of eligible students (75%) undertook their course internally, that is
they attended the campus to undertake the course, a further 18% of students
undertook their course externally via correspondence or on-line, 6% used multimode, a combination of face to face and correspondence or on-line. The
remaining 1% was employer based, where the course was delivered at their place
of employment. The distribution of eligible students across study modes was
similar in 2009, however the percentage of eligible students undertaking their
course who were employer based showed a large decrease from 10% in 2009.
Of the 54,569 eligible students in 2010, 30,902 (57%) were undertaking their
course full-time, this was a significant increase from 2009 where 42% of eligible
students studied full-time. Approximately half of the full-time eligible students in
2010 were full fee paying (the remaining eligible students being subsidised).
In comparison, part-time eligible students had fallen in 2010 compared with 2009.
In 2010, 41% of eligible students undertook their course part-time compared to
57% in 2009. Of the part-time eligible students in 2010, 69% were Government
subsidised students. This represents a substantial shift in the mix of full-time
versus part-time study as indicated in Figure 2.
8
Figure 2: Distribution of full-fee paying and Government subsidised eligible
students, by attendance, 2010
Number of Students
16,000
15,469
15,525
15,433
14,000
12,000
10,000
6,981
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Full-time
Part-time
Attendance Type
Full-fee paying students
Government subsidised students
Identified demographic groups
The significant growth in eligible students from 2009 to 2010 was also reflected in
the number of eligible students from identified demographic groups. The number
of indigenous students eligible to access the scheme grew from 143 in 2009 to
616 in 2010, an increase of 331%. Similar growth was also seen across all other
identified demographic groups in 2010:
 Students with disability, 286%;
 Students from regional/remote areas, 204%;
 Students from the lowest socio-economic quintile, 167%; and
 Students from non-English speaking backgrounds, 141%.
Eligible student numbers in each of the identified demographic groups is shown in
Table 2.
9
Table 2: VET FEE-HELP eligible students, identified demographic groups 2010
Identified demographic groups
Eligible students
% Change
2010
from 2009
616
330.8
9,790
141.1
2,558
285.8
9,981
204.2
9,873
167.4
15,798
n/a(a)
Indigenous Australians
Students from non-English speaking backgrounds
Students with disability
Students from regional/remote areas
Students from lowest socio-economic quintile
Students not in employment
Note:
(a) Information on the workforce status of students is not available for 2009.
In 2010 eligible regional/remote students accounted for 18% of the total eligible
students, this was a slight increase from 2009. Indigenous students and students
with a disability also showed small increases rising from 0.8% to 1% and 3% to 5%
respectively. Eligible students from the lowest social-economic quintile showed a
small decrease of 1 percentage point to 18% and eligible students from
non-English speaking backgrounds also decreased by 3 percentage points to 18%.
Students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance
The number of eligible students accessing the scheme by taking out a loan grew
from 5,262 in 2009 to 26,112 in 2010. Of the students who accessed VET FEEHELP assistance 61% were studying at a TAFE institute, with the remaining 39%
studying at a private VET provider.
Qualification level
Of the 26,112 students who accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance in 2010, 76% were
enrolled in a diploma level course. A further 23% were enrolled in advanced
diploma courses with vocational graduate certificate courses and vocational
graduate diploma courses accounting for 0.5% of students accessing
VET FEE-HELP assistance. Table 3 shows the number of VET FEE-HELP assisted
students across the four qualification levels in 2009 and 2010.
10
Table 3: Number of students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance by
qualification level, 2009 and 2010
Qualification Level
Diploma
Advanced Diploma
VET Graduate Certificate
VET Graduate Diploma
Total
VET FEE-HELP assisted students
2009
2010
4,175
1,053
16
18
5,262
19,907
6,077
84
44
26,112
% Change
from 2009
376.8
477.1
425.0
144.4
396.2
Age groups and gender
The substantial growth in students accessing VET FEE-HELP between 2009 and
2010 was spread across all age groups, genders, and identified demographic
groups. The number of students accessing the scheme aged 45 years and over
rose from 383 students in 2009 to 2,379 students in 2010, an increase of 521%.
Similar increases were seen across the under 25 and the 25-44 year groups.
Around half of the eligible students in the under 25 years age group (53%) and the
25-44 age group (48%) accessed VET FEE-HELP in 2010. Both age groups had
significant increases from 2009 where 27% and 31% accessed VET FEE-HELP.
Nearly all (43 of 44 students) of the students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance
who were studying a vocational graduate diploma were aged under 25 years. Of
the 84 students studying a vocational graduate certificate, 52 were aged 25-44
years. Of the VET FEE-HELP assisted students studying advanced diploma level
courses, 58% were under 25 years group and 35% were aged between 25-44
years group. Similar figures were seen in students studying diploma level courses
with 53% under 25 years and 38% aged between 25-44 years.
The overall gender distribution of students accessing VET FEE-HELP in 2010 was
very similar to the eligible student distribution, 65% were female and 35% male.
However, whereas the eligible student numbers in 2010 showed an increase in
the proportion of female students compared to 2009, the proportion of female
students accessing VET FEE-HELP in 2010 has fallen, from 69% in 2009.
In 2010, 48% of eligible students chose to access VET FEE-HELP assistance. Of the
eligible female students in 2010, 52% accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance, this is an
increase from 2009 where 33% of eligible female students accessed the scheme.
The number of eligible male students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance also
showed significant increases, from 20% in 2009 to 42% in 2010, however male
participation in the scheme for both years was below the overall participation
rate of 48%.
11
Similar trends were evidenced in students accessing VET FEE-HELP for study at the
diploma level. The proportion of female students accessing the scheme decreased
from 72% in 2009 to 68% in 2010, even though the proportion of eligible female
students increased.
When looking at the students accessing VET FEE-HELP for advanced diploma
qualifications, in 2010, 55% were female, this was a decrease from 2009 where
59% were female. As mentioned previously the proportion of eligible male
students decreased from 2009 to 2010, however, the proportion of male students
accessing VET FEE-HELP increased from 41% in 2009 to 45% in 2010.
Full fee paying and government subsidised students
In 2009, of the eligible full fee paying students, 50% accessed VET FEE-HELP
assistance whereas only 8% of the eligible government subsidised students
accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance. Both of these figures increased significantly in
2010, with 70% of eligible full fee paying students and 31% of eligible government
subsidised students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance.
The vast majority of government subsidised students undertook their course
internally in both 2009 and 2010, (97% and 95% respectively), whereas for full fee
paying students less than half (48% in 2010) undertook their course internally.
Of the full fee paying students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance in 2010, 75%
attended their course full-time, compared to 61% of government subsidised
students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance.
Attendance and mode of study
As identified previously, the majority of eligible students undertook their course
‘internally’. However, the participation rate of students accessing VET FEE-HELP
in 2010 in this mode was only 42%, whereas, 81% of students undertaking their
course ‘externally’ accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance. This distinct difference in
participation rates between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ modes of study had also been
reflected in the 2009 data, where only 20% of internal students accessed
VET FEE-HELP compared to 85% of ‘external’ students.
Of the ‘external’ students 78% were female compared to 22% male.
Nearly 70% of the students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance in 2010 studied
their course full-time, a decrease from 2009 where 75% of students studied
full-time. Part-time study accounted for close to 23% of assisted students in 2009
and rose to more than 26% in 2010 (the attendance type of the remaining
students was not identified in the reported data).
12
Identified demographic groups
Of the total eligible students the proportion of these students who accessed
VET FEE-HELP assistance and who were from the identified demographic groups,
as set out below, showed little change in 2010 from 2009.
Indigenous students who accessed VET FEE-HELP accounted for over 1% of all
VET FEE-HELP eligible students in 2010, unchanged from 2009. The largest
increase was seen in students from a non-English speaking background. This
group accounted for 15% of the total VET FEE-HELP eligible students in 2010
compared to 11% in 2009. Students accessing assistance who were not in
employment was not included in 2009, however, 36% of the total eligible
students who accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance identified as being a part of this
group in 2010. This is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: VET FEE-HELP assisted students: Percentage of students in the
identified demographic groups, 2009 and 2010
40
35
% VET FEE-HELP assisted students
35.9
2009
2010
30
25
16.9
20
11.4
15
18.7
15.0 14.7
15.4
10
5
1.5 1.5
3.1 4.5
0
0
Indigenous
Australians
Students from Students with Students from Students from Students not in
non-English
disability
regional/remote the lowest
Employment
Identified demographics
speaking
areas
socio-economic
Notes:
backgrounds
quintile
1. The percentage is calculated as the number of VET FEE-HELP assisted students within each of the
identified demographic groups as a percentage of all VET FEE-HELP assisted students.
2. Information on the workforce status of students is not available for 2009.
3. The population of VET FEE-HELP ICL assisted students was 5,262 in 2009 and 26,112 in 2010.
Along with the substantial growth of eligible students from the identified
demographic groups, strong growth was seen in the percentage of these eligible
students who accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance.
13
Students from non-English speaking backgrounds who accessed VET FEE-HELP
increased from 600 students in 2009 to 4,026 students in 2010, this represented
an increase in the percentage of these eligible students accessing assistance from
15% in 2009 to 41% in 2010. The increases in participation rates from 2009 to
2010 in all identified demographic groups are shown in figure 4.
Table 4: VET FEE-HELP participation rates of students in identified demographic
groups, 2009 and 2010
Identified demographic groups
2009
2010
78
600
164
788
890
385
4,026
1,162
3,835
4,883
Indigenous Australians
Non-English speaking background
Disability
Students from regional/remote areas
Lowest socio-economic quintile
% difference in participation
rates
+8.0
+26.3
+20.7
+14.4
+25.4
Figure 4: VET FEE-HELP participation rates of students in identified demographic
groups, 2009 and 2010
Participation rate (%)
70
2009
(%)
2010
62.5
60
59.3
54.5
49.5
50
45.4
41.1
38.4
40
30
24.7
20
24.0
24.1
14.8
10
0
0
Indigenous
Australians
Students from
non-English
speaking
backgrounds
Students with Students from Students from Students not in
disability
regional/remote the lowest socio- Employment
areas
economic
quintile
Identified demographics
Notes:
1. The participation rate is calculated as the number of VET FEE-HELP assisted students as a percentage
of all eligible students within each of the identified demographic groups.
2. Information on the workforce status of students is not available for 2009.
14
Of the 31,365 eligible students who identified as being in employment, 11,116
(35%) accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance. This is compared to students who
identified as not being in employment where 9,364 (59%) of 15,798 accessed
VET FEE-HELP, well above the overall participation rate of 48%.
The vast majority of students not in employment undertook courses of diploma
level (72%), with advanced diploma level courses only accounting for 28%. A
similar distribution of course level was seen from students who were in
employment.
Students with a disability, from the lowest socio-economic quintile and from
non-English speaking backgrounds were more likely to undertake their course
internally than the overall percentage of students accessing VET FEE-HELP (65%).
Students from regional remote areas were evenly distributed between internal
and external modes of study and indigenous students undertaking their course
internally (55%) was well below the overall percentage of students accessing
VET FEE-HELP. Figure 5 shows mode of study of each identified demographic
group.
Figure 5: Mode of study of VET FEE-HELP assisted students in identified
demographic groups, 2010
%
Internal
100
External
85.8
90
81.4
80
73.1
67.3
70
60
50
55.3
46.5 46.8
42.3
40
30.0
30
23.7
20
14.0
12.0
10
0
Indigenous
Australians
Students with Students from Students from Students from Students not in
disability
regional/remote the lowest socio- non-English
employment
areas
economic
speaking
quintile
background
Identified Demographics
15
Eligible and VET FEE-HELP assisted course enrolments
In 2010, there were 59,172 enrolments in courses eligible for VET FEE-HELP
assistance compared to 54,569 students. This indicates that some students were
enrolled in more than one course over the year. Of the 59,172 enrolments,
almost half (48%) received assistance to cover the course tuition fees; this is
nearly double the percentage of VET FEE-HELP assisted enrolments in 2009 (27%).
Of the VET FEE-HELP eligible enrolments, Victoria had more than all the other
states and territories combined, with 42,122. Of this 13,692 enrolments were
supported with VET FEE-HELP, a 33% participation rate compared with the
national participation rate of 48%. The Australian Capital Territory had the
highest proportion of enrolments supported by VET FEE-HELP assistance at 94%.
Table 5 shows the breakdown of course enrolments by provider’s campus
state/territory.
Table 5: Eligible and VET FEE-HELP assisted course enrolments by campus
State/Territory, 2010
Course enrolments
NSW
VET FEE-HELP
10,755
assisted enrolments
VIC
QLD
WA
SA
TAS
ACT
NT
13,692
2,636
364
643
0
179
0
Eligible enrolments 12,424 42,122 3,166 571 721
0
191
0
Note:
(a) The sum of enrolments by campus State/Territory will not equal the total number of
enrolments in Australia as an enrolment may occur across multiple jurisdictions.
Australia(a)
28,247
59,172
The total VET FEE-HELP assisted enrolments were divided across level of
qualification as follows: diploma level courses (20,894), advanced diploma
(7,223), graduate certificate (86) and graduate diploma (44).
Field of education
Enrolments were seen across a broad spectrum of education fields. The field of
education with the highest percent of enrolments accessing VET FEE-HELP
assistance was ‘Food, Hospitality and Personal Services’, where 62% of eligible
enrolments accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance (1,495 enrolments accessed
VET FEE-HELP out of 2,396 eligible enrolments). This was followed by ‘Health’
with 57% of enrolments and ‘Creative Arts’ with 55% of enrolments. All three are
significantly higher, than the national average, of 48% of eligible enrolments.
The lowest participation rates of eligible enrolments were seen in the
‘Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies’ field at 19% of eligible
16
enrolments and ‘Architecture and Building’ at 29% of eligible enrolments
accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance.
Of the 28,247 assisted enrolments in 2010, more than 25% were in the field of
‘Management and Commerce’, over 18% in ‘Society and Culture’, 16% in
‘Creative Arts’ and nearly 15% in ‘Health’. Enrolment numbers in these four fields
of education rose significantly in 2010 compared to 2009. Enrolment numbers in
the broad fields of education are shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Number of VET FEE-HELP assisted course enrolments by Field of
Education, 2009 and 2010
Broad field of education
Agriculture, Environmental
and related studies
11
2009
308
2010
28
Architecture and building
783
738
Creative Arts
4,575
163
Education
535
173
Engineering and
Related Technologies
1,553
279
Food, Hospitality and
Personal Services
1,495
1,039
Health
4,174
130
Information Technology
1,261
Management and
Commerce
1,384
7,762
Natural and
Physical Sciences
40
352
1,383
Society and Culture
5,269
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
Number of course enrolments
17
7,000
8,000
Within the ‘Management and Commerce’ field 7,762 course enrolments accessed
VET FEE-HELP assistance, of which 17% of students undertook the Diploma of
Accounting. The Diploma of Children’s Services had the highest number of
students in the ‘Society and Culture’ field, Diploma of commercial Arts
(Graphic Design) in the ‘Creative Arts’ field and Diploma of Nursing
(Enrolled/Division 2 nursing) in the ‘Health’ field. Table 6 shows the number and
percentage of students in the top five courses.
Table 6: VET FEE-HELP assisted course enrolments: Top five courses in the top
four Fields of Education, 2010
Field of Education – Top Courses
Management and Commerce
Diploma of Accounting
Diploma of Management
Diploma of Occupational Health and Safety
Diploma of Business
Advanced Diploma of Accounting
Society and Culture
Diploma of Children’s Services
Diploma of Community Services Work
Diploma of Counselling
Diploma of Community Services (Case management)
Diploma of Community Welfare Work
Creative Arts
Diploma of Commercial Arts (Graphic Design)
Diploma of Commercial Arts (Interior Decoration and Design)
Diploma of Graphic Design
Diploma of Music Industry (Technical Production)
Diploma of Sound Production
Health
Diploma of Nursing (Enrolled/Division 2 nursing)
Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy
Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine
Diploma of Remedial Massage
Advanced Diploma of Western Herbal Medicine
VET FEE-HELP assisted course
enrolments
% of enrolments in
Number
field of education
7,762
1,340
17.3
886
11.4
583
7.5
569
7.3
535
6.9
5,269
1,354
25.7
773
14.7
572
10.9
357
6.8
322
6.1
4,575
857
18.7
768
16.8
368
8.0
304
6.6
265
5.8
4,174
1,237
29.6
775
18.6
715
17.1
516
12.4
286
6.8
The total number of courses that were approved for students to access
VET FEE-HELP assistance rose from 591 in 2009 to 1,199 in 2010. Of the twelve
fields of education, six more than doubled the number of approved courses from
2009 to 2010, the field of ‘Agriculture, Environmental and related studies’ having
the highest increase of 154%. The field of ‘Management and Commerce’ which
had the highest course enrolments that accessed VET FEE-HELP assistance also
had the highest number of courses approved with 380 in 2010. Table 7 shows the
total number of approved courses by field of education in 2009 and 2010.
18
Table 7: Number of approved courses offered by Fields of Education by campus
State/Territory in 2009 and 2010
Field of Education
NSW
VIC
QLD
WA
SA
TAS
ACT
NT
Australia
2009
Agriculture, Environmental &
related studies
0
28
0
0
0
0
0
0
28
Architecture & building
0
22
0
0
0
0
0
0
22
Creative Arts
8
60
8
1
1
0
1
0
79
Education
2
11
0
0
0
0
1
0
14
Engineering & related
technologies
0
62
0
0
0
0
0
0
62
Food, hospitality & personal
services
3
20
2
0
1
0
0
0
26
11
34
5
10
1
0
0
0
61
2
34
0
0
0
0
1
0
37
19
168
3
0
1
0
4
0
195
Mixed field programs
1
6
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
Natural & Physical Sciences
2
7
1
0
0
0
0
0
10
Society & Culture
8
65
2
2
0
0
1
0
78
56
489
21
13
4
0
8
0
591
Health
Information Technology
Management & Commerce
Total courses offered 2009
2010
Agriculture, Environmental &
related studies
1
70
0
0
0
0
0
0
71
Architecture & building
0
51
3
0
0
0
0
0
54
12
140
20
3
2
0
3
0
180
Education
3
24
2
0
0
0
1
0
30
Engineering & related
technologies
1
98
0
0
0
0
0
0
99
Food, hospitality & personal
services
7
29
5
0
2
0
0
0
43
15
88
22
11
1
0
0
0
137
5
54
3
0
0
0
1
0
63
42
301
23
0
7
0
7
0
380
Mixed field programs
1
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
13
Natural & Physical Sciences
1
14
1
0
0
0
0
0
16
16
155
7
2
3
0
1
0
184
104 1,036
86
16
15
0
13
0
1,199
Creative Arts
Health
Information Technology
Management & Commerce
Society & Culture
Total courses offered 2010
19
Student Achievement
Approved VET providers report on the outcome of individual units undertaken
that lead towards a VET qualification and on the number of courses completed by
eligible and VET FEE-HELP assisted students.
In 2010, the number of student enrolments with units of study undertaken was
23,766. Of these, 20,394 student enrolments completed at least one of the units
in their course, a progress rate of 86%. This was a large increase from 2009
where the progress rate was 77%. Table 8 shows the distribution between male
and female students enrolling in units of study, the relevant progress rates and
the increase since 2009.
Table 8: VET FEE-HELP assisted enrolments: Progress rate (%) by gender, 2010
Gender
Males
Enrolments for Enrolments successfully
units of study
completing units of
undertaken
study
Progress
rate % (a)
% Difference
from 2009
9,058
7,624
84.2
+7.0
Females
14,708
12,770
86.8
+10.6
Total
23,766
20,394
85.8
+9.1
Note:
(a)
The progress rate for enrolments is calculated as the number of courses with at least one
successfully completed unit as a percentage of the number of courses with at least one
completed (successful, fail or withdrew) unit.
In 2010, the progress rate in each of the identified demographic groups was
above 80%. However, all of these groups, except students from regional and
remote areas, were below the national rate of 86%. The progress rates in each of
the identified demographic groups, shows similar increases from 2009 to 2010.
The increase in progress rates for each identified demographic group is shown in
Figure 7.
20
Figure 7: VET FEE-HELP assisted enrolments: Progress rates in the identified
demographic groups, 2010
Progress rate (%)
100
80
86.0
84.8
90
77.8
81.8
84.2
83.5
81.2
79
73.7
70.3
70
60
50
40
30
2009
20
2010
10
0
Indigenous
Australians
Students from
non-English
speaking
backgrounds
Students with Students from Students from
disability
regional/remote the lowest socioareas
economic
quintile
Identified Demographics
Note:
(1) The progress rate for enrolments is calculated as the number of courses with at least one
successfully completed unit as a percentage of the number of courses with at least one
completed (successful, fail or withdrew) unit.
The number of students accessing VET FEE-HELP assistance and completing their
course increased significantly from 528 in 2009 to 3,534 in 2010. Of these
completions in 2010, 78% were for qualifications at diploma level. Table 9 shows
the number of VET FEE-HELP assisted course completions by state/territory for
2010.
Table 9: Number of VET FEE-HELP assisted course completion by provider
state/territory, 2010
NSW
VET FEE-HELP assisted course completion
VIC
1,198 1,863
Note:
Tasmania and the Northern Territory have no enrolments.
21
QLD WA
12
11
SA
ACT
AUST
46
293
3,534
Tuition Fees
The value of the income contingent loans accessed by students, in 2010,
amounted to nearly $118 million. This accounted for close to 78% of the total
tuition fees charged ($151.5 million) for all students who were eligible to access
VET FEE-HELP assistance. It is also an increase of 360% from the income
contingent loans incurred in 2009 ($25.6 million). Of the $118 million,
$102.7 million was incurred by full fee paying students accessing VET FEE-HELP.
For full fee paying students in 2010 the average minimum annual tuition fee was
$1,800 and the average maximum annual tuition fee was $11,100. Whereas, for
government subsidised students the average minimum annual tuition fee was
$100 and the average maximum annual tuition fee was $3,500. For full fee paying
students the field of study with the highest average maximum annual tuition fee
of $12,900 was ‘food, hospitality and personal service’ and for government
subsidised students it was $3,200 in the field of ‘management and commerce’.
Table 10 shows the minimum and maximum tuition fees for full fee paying and
government subsidised students by qualification level and field of education.
22
Table 10: Minimum and Maximum tuition fees by Qualification Level and Field
of Education and student type, 2010 ($’000)
Full-fee paying students
Government subsidised
students
Average
Minimum
Annual
Tuition Fees
per EFTSL
Average
Maximum
Annual
Tuition Fees
per EFTSL
Average
Minimum
Annual
Tuition Fees
per EFTSL
Average
Maximum
Annual
Tuition Fees
per EFTSL
$16.1
$17.6
–
–
VET Graduate
Certificate(a)
$2.1
$5.9
–
–
Advanced Diploma
$3.0
$10.0
$0.3
$2.9
Diploma
$1.8
$11.3
$0.1
$3.5
Total
$1.8
$11.1
$0.1
$3.5
Agriculture, Environmental
and related studies
$2.5
$5.3
$0.1
$2.1
Architecture and building
$4.3
$7.6
$0.2
$2.3
Creative Arts
$4.6
$12.0
$0.2
$2.9
Education
$3.6
$6.3
$0.2
$0.8
Engineering and related
technologies
$0.9
$12.5
$0.2
$2.3
Food, hospitality and
personal services
$9.8
$12.9
$0.2
$2.3
Health
$2.4
$8.4
$0.3
$2.1
Information Technology
$5.1
$9.0
$0.4
$2.6
Management and
Commerce
$1.6
$7.2
$0.2
$3.2
Natural and Physical
Sciences
$4.3
$9.1
$0.2
$2.6
Society and Culture
$2.1
$7.7
$0.2
$2.6
Total
$1.8
$11.1
$0.1
$3.5
Qualification Level
VET Graduate Diploma(a)
Note:
Government subsidised students enrolled in graduate diploma and graduate certificate courses
are not eligible for VET FEE-HELP ICLs.
23
State/Territory analysis
Students from New South Wales (NSW) took out a higher value of VET FEE-HELP
loans than all other States and Territories combined. Of the $71.9 million total
tuition fees charged in NSW to students who were eligible to access
VET FEE-HELP, $63.9 million or 89% was paid through VET FEE-HELP assistance,
higher than the national average (84%) for full paying students.
Even though Victoria saw exceptional growth of 864% in the value of income
contingent loans accessed by students, they had the lowest proportion of tuition
fees charged being covered by VET FEE-HELP with 60%. Out of $55.4 million in
tuition fees charged only $33.4 million was covered by VET FEE-HELP assistance.
For full fee paying students the proportion is higher with 71% of the total fees
charged, being covered by VET FEE-HELP, out of $26.1 million tuition fees
charged, $18.6 million was covered by VET FEE-HELP assistance. Over half of
government subsidised students in Victoria (51%) accessed VET FEE-HELP
assistance to cover tuition fees. The amount of VET FEE-HELP loans accessed by
state/territory is shown in Table 11.
Table 11: VET FEE-HELP loans taken out by students for each campus
state/territory, 2010 ($‘000)
Fee Type
Full-fee paying
NSW
VIC
QLD
WA
SA
ACT
Australia(a)
63,915.1
18,570.9
13,528.8
1,432.3
3,724.4
1,544.4
102,716.0
-
14,859.9
-
-
-
-
14,859.9
Total VET FEE-HELP
2010
63,915.1
33,430.8
13,528.8
1,432.3
3,724.4
1,544.4
117,575.9
Total VET FEE-HELP
2009
17,914.8
3,467.9
2,854.3
228.9
601.5
510.8
25,578.2
% Change from 2009
256.8%
864.0%
374.0%
525.7%
519.2%
202.3%
359.7%
Government
Subsidised
Note:
(a) Tasmania and the Northern Territory have no providers or campuses located in these two
locations.
Full fee paying students
Qualification Level
Of the $102.7 million income contingent loans to full fee paying students 75% was
used to cover the cost of diploma level courses, followed by advanced diploma
24% and vocational graduate diploma and vocational graduate certificate
accounting for 1%. The proportion of tuition fees charged for full fee paying
24
students covered by an income contingent loan was also highest for diploma level
courses with 86%, followed by advanced diploma level courses with 81%.
Field of education
The fields of education with the highest take up rates (proportion of total tuition
fees charged that a student takes out as an income contingent loan) for full fee
paying students were ‘Food, Hospitality and Personal Services’ with 96% of tuition
fees charged covered by VET FEE-HELP, ‘Society and Culture’ with 91% and
‘Information Technology’ with 87%. This was slightly different from the overall
take up rate for all eligible students where ‘Food, Hospitality and Personal
Services’ was the highest with 92%, followed by ‘Education’ and ‘Society and
Culture’ at 85% each. The take up rates by field of education are shown in Figure
8.
Figure 8: VET FEE-HELP take up rate (%) by field of education for full-fee paying
students, 2009 and 2010
Broad field of education
Agriculture, Environmental and related studies
2009
Architecture and building
2010
Creative Arts
Education
Engineering and Related Technologies
Food, Hospitality and Personal Services
Health
Information Technology
Management and Commerce
Natural and Physical Sciences
Society and Culture
0
20
40
60
80
Take up rate (%)
Note:
Take up rate % is the proportion of total tuition fees charged that a student takes out as an
income contingent loan.
25
100
Providers
Registered training organisations (RTOs) must be approved to offer VET FEE-HELP
assistance to eligible students. The number of RTOs approved to offer
VET FEE-HELP assistance for eligible VET courses of study increased steadily in
2010, rising from 50 approved providers in 2009 to 78 as at 31 December 2010.
Private providers make up the majority of approved providers, numbering 55, the
other 23 are public providers (TAFEs).
A total of 30 RTOs were approved to offer VET FEE-HELP assistance to eligible
students in 2010. Victoria saw the largest rise in approved providers with
12 RTOs approved in 2010, followed by New South Wales with 10. In 2010 the
first public providers were approved in Queensland with two TAFEs obtaining
approval. It was also the first year that approvals were revoked. Two approvals,
one in Victoria and one in Queensland were revoked through the year due to the
RTO being sold to another body corporate which was also approved to offer
VET FEE-HELP assistance.
Of the 78 approved providers at the end of 2010, 55 submitted student data in
relation to units of study with census dates occurring in 2010. A number of
providers who were approved during 2010 will commence offering VET FEE-HELP
assistance for the first time in 2011 and therefore there was no requirement for
them to report during 2010.
Nearly half of the 55 providers who submitted data were located in Victoria, of
which the majority were TAFEs. For approved providers consideration must also
be given to the structure of the public provider. In Victoria each TAFE operates as
an individual body corporate and therefore each is approved as a VET FEE-HELP
provider. However, in NSW all TAFEs operate under a single body corporate and
are therefore approved as one VET FEE-HELP provider. This can be seen in
Table 12 where NSW has 201 ‘total reporting campuses’ compared to Victoria
having 87.
26
Table 12: Approved VET FEE-HELP Providers by State/Territory(a) and provider
type total reporting campuses (as at 31 December 2010)
NSW(b)
VIC
QLD
WA
TAFE
1
18
2
1
0
Other
19
20
7
3
Total approved
providers
20
38
9
TAFE
1
18
Other
12
Total reporting
VET providers
13
Provider type
SA TAS
ACT
NT
AUST
0
1
0
23
4
0
2
0
55
4
4
0
3
0
78
2
1
0
0
0
0
22
9
4
3
3
0
2
0
33
27
6
4
3
0
2
0
55(c)
Total reporting
campuses
201
87
18
8
5
0
2
0
321
Note:
(a) State/Territory location of the VET provider’s headquarters.
(b) All NSW TAFEs operate under a single body corporate.
(c) A number of providers who were approved during 2010 will commence offering
VET FEE-HELP assistance for the first time in 2011 and therefore there was no requirement
for them to report during 2010.
27
Tables
Students – VET FEE-HELP eligible & assisted students - 2010
Table 1: Eligible VET FEE-HELP students by fee type, student status & student
characteristic
Table 2: Course enrolments by fee type, student status and course characteristic
Table 3: EFTSL by fee type, student status and course characteristic
Table 4: Eligible ICL and VET FEE-HELP assisted students by student
characteristic and level of course
Table 5: Eligible ICL and VET FEE-HELP assisted students by broad field of
education and student characteristics
Table 6: VET FEE-HELP assisted students by home state and state of provider
Table 7: VET FEE-HELP assisted students by highest prior education participation
and level of current course
Table 8: VET FEE-HELP assisted students by mode of attendance, type of
attendance and student characteristics
Table 9: Progress rates for VET FEE-HELP assisted enrolments
Student achievement and course completion - 2010
Table 1: Course completions by student characteristics
Table 2: Course completions by qualification level and field of education
Table 3: course completions by provider
Tuition fees and expenditure - 2010
Table 1: Tuition fee information by fee type, student status and student
characteristic
Table 2: Tuition fee information by fee type, student status and qualification
level and field of education
Table 3: Tuition fee information by fee type, campus jurisdiction and campus
region
28
VET providers providing VET FEE-HELP - 2010
Table 1: Approved provider campus locations and eligible students
Table 2: Eligible VET FEE-HELP students by fee type, student status and provider
Table 3: EFTSL by fee type, student status and provider
Table 4: Eligible VET FEE-HELP students by fee type, qualification level of course
and provider
Table 5: Eligible VET FEE-HELP students by fee type, field of education and
provider
Table 6: VET FEE-HELP assisted students by mode of attendance and provider
Table 7: VET FEE-HELP assisted students by progress rates and providers
Appendix Tables - 2010
Table 1: VET Provider approval date and first census date by provider
Table 2: Missing student demographic information by VET provider
29