Expansion of the Tuition Protection Service
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The Australian Government is expanding the successful Tuition Protection Service (TPS) for international students to provide tuition assurance for students with VET Student Loans (VSL) providers and non-university higher education providers (NUHEP) offering FEE-HELP. The new tuition assurance arrangements, for VSL and NUHEP FEE-HELP, will commence on 1 January 2019. Non-exempt providers will be required to pay levies, commensurate with their size and risk.
The current TPS arrangement will continue as a dedicated service for international students, with its own quarantined account and the same protections and support through placements and refunds. Consistent with the TPS, the new arrangements will be managed by a statutory appointed Director, who will be supported by an independent Advisory Board. The Director will be the same person as the TPS Director.
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The current TPS arrangements will continue as a dedicated service for international students, with its own quarantined account and the same protections and support through placements and refunds.
The TPS levies for the Overseas Student Tuition Fund will not change as a result of the new tuition assurance arrangements and will not be used to cross subsidise the new tuition assurance arrangements for VSL and NUHEP FEE-HELP.
The functions of the TPS Director and Advisory Board will be expanded to encompass both the overseas and domestic (VSL and NUHEP) students’ tuition assurance arrangements.
Q: What does this mean for tuition assurance for the remainder of 2018?
The current interim tuition assurance arrangements will remain in place until 31 December 2018. This will allow the Government sufficient time to implement the new arrangements for 1 January 2019, and allows the sector to be consulted on the new model.