Students screwed by VET loans shake-up

MICHELLE was on track to graduate. But a government decision has left her in debt and with no way to pay for her future

Michelle Dryburgh is angry about changes to the VET FEE-HELP student loan scheme.

AFTER almost a year of study, Michelle Dryburgh was told this week she will be left high and dry to pay about $8000 in upfront fees — just because she is enrolled in a VET course the government doesn’t think is worth supporting.

The 28-year-old is not due to finish her advanced diploma of nutritional medicine until December 2018 but the course is one of 478 the Turnbull Government says it won’t support with student loans after 2017.

Ms Dryburgh has already racked up thousands in fees and by the time she graduates, her study is expected to cost about $22,500. The last year is the most expensive and she’ll have to cover this without the help of a student loan. It will cost her an estimated $8000 in upfront fees.

The Nature Care College where she studies has offered to provide interest free loans to students but Ms Dryburgh will still have to cover about $215 a week.

“It’s a lot of money that I just can’t afford,” she told news.com.au.

The Cairns resident has spoken to many other students who are now thinking of dropping out because they can’t cover the cost of funding their last year of study.

Ms Dryburgh said she understood the government was trying to address problems in the industry but blocking current students from accessing loans was unfair, especially for those studying legitimate courses.

“If students drop out, they’ll have a debt, won’t be able to practice and will probably be unemployed,” she said. “The loans won’t be paid back, which is what the government is trying to address anyway.”

Ms Dryburgh’s course was one of more than 400 culled from a list of more than 800 to crack down on the vocational sector. The change was partly aimed at helping students being targeted by dodgy operators and signed up to courses at inflated costs, even if they had little prospect of finishing the course or getting a job afterwards.

She said many students didn’t seem to realise the change would impact them, as they thought it would only affect new students.

Ironically, the government’s changes may also force current students to drop out after racking up debt they can’t pay off.

In a statement to news.com.au, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said he “made no apologies” for ensuring taxpayer money was used to support students doing courses with strong employment outcomes to ensure they could afford to pay back their government loan.

Michelle Dryburgh says the changes to the VET FEE-HELP student loan scheme are unfair.

“Australians rightly expect that any subsidies students get are focused on areas of study most likely to improve employment outcomes,” Mr Birmingham said.

He said the vast majority of students would have finished their courses by the end of 2017.

“We were contacted by Ms Dryburgh just yesterday and my department will help students like her to make the transition to the new program and we are taking those situations on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

Mr Birmingham also noted the advanced diploma of nutritional medicine was already being phased out, and was now being taught as a bachelor-level degree.

But Ms Dryburgh defended her course saying it would allow her work as an accredited nutritionist as long as she graduates by 2018. After that she will need to have completed a degree in order to be accredited.

“Some people think we are snake oil salespeople but I don’t think they understand what a nutritionist is. This is a nationally accredited diploma.”

Many other courses are also impacted by the changes including fitness coaching, share trading and investment, business (public relations), conveyancing, journalism and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

Many also didn’t realise they would have to apply for their student loans to be extended to 2017, otherwise funds would automatically be cut in March.

While students have the option to transfer to university courses, where study will still be covered by HELP loans, Ms Dryburgh doesn’t have that luxury because she lives in Cairns and can’t study on-campus. She’s currently doing her course online and said the changes hit regional students in particular.

A Sunshine Coast student who did not want to be named told news.com.au she would have to drop out of her online naturopathy course if she couldn’t get a student loan.

“It’s impossible for me to finish,” she said.

The government also announced last week that it would cap the amount students could borrow for different courses.

Institutions will be able to charge more but students will only be able to get a loan for either $5000, $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the subject.

Alison Pengilly of Adelaide is studying a diploma of remedial massage, which will be covered by the new loan program, but is still facing extra fees if she doesn’t finish her course by the end of next year.

The 36-year-old said her course at the Australian Institute of Applied Science was expected to cost about $16,000 but she will only be able to get a loan for $10,000 under the new system.

If she can’t finish her course by the end of 2017, she’ll have to pay upfront for her fees beyond 2017.

“I was only doing it part time but to finish it I’ve got to do it full time,” she said.

“Now I have to weight up my family options. I was planning to do IVF so I’ve got to chose between family and full time study.”

Ms Pengilly already has a 12-month-old baby and fast-tracking her study next year would also require her to get child care.

“The pressure is on me to finish the course at the end of the year.”

Ms Dryburgh said the government should follow through on its commitment to provide student loans for those already enrolled in courses: “I think that’s only fair”.

“Everyone is really stressed and it’s just coming into exam period,” she said.

“People are angry too, they signed paperwork that the course would be covered by VET-FEE-HELP but the government is now pulling out of the agreement.”

Australians can give their feedback on the eligible VET Student Loans courses by 23 October by emailing [e-mail]

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Originally published as Students screwed by VET loans shake-up