Approved programme

A Student Loan may be approved if a student is enrolled in an approved programme.

An approved programme for Student Loan purposes is one which:

• is offered by a tertiary education provider
• is approved for Student Component funding (Government funding) by the Tertiary Education Commission (from 1 January 2007)
• is listed by PC code in Tertiary Education Commission's Which Course Where 
• leads to a recognised award or qualification
• is a full-time programme or a part-time programme of at least 32 weeks or a part-time part-year programme of at least 0.25 EFTS (fees only)

The following programmes are not approved for Student Loan purposes:

• training and work experience programmes offered by MSD
• STAR (Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource) programmes, which are provided for secondary school students and fully funded by the Ministry of Education

Students under the age of 18 at study start date who are undertaking a Youth Guarantee course or a fees-free level 1-2 course or programme are not eligible for a Student Loan, as the course is fully funded by the Government.

For more information see:

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) formally approves education providers, and programmes, or qualifications for access to Student Allowances and/or Student Loans, as part of its primary role of approving government funding for tertiary education providers.

In order for a Student Allowance or Student Loan application to be approved, the programme or qualification the applicant is intending to study (and the education provider who will be delivering it) must be approved by TEC. It forms part of the eligibility criteria for both Student Allowances and Student Loans.

The TEC approval of funding and access to Student Allowance and/or Student Loans can only occur after the provider has obtained the necessary quality assurance from the appropriate quality assurance body under the Education and Training Act 2020.

When TEC approve the funding of a particular qualification and access to Student Loans and/or Student Allowances, they:

• verify the level of the qualification on the qualification register
• confirm EFTS value allocated to the qualification
• confirm the course classification and funding category of the qualification and
• ensure the qualification and the provider meet the eligibility requirements of the Funding Guide

All approved providers and qualifications are subject to review by TEC to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements of the Funding Guide, including where changes have occurred to the qualification, the financial viability of the provider, any contractual arrangements for the delivery of the qualification, and (for PTEs) the ownership or governance of the provider.

It is the responsibility of education providers to deliver a programme or qualifications with the approvals that have been given.

A Verification of Study (VoS) response for a student may include different information (eg EFTS value or study period) from what was approved by TEC.

This can occur as the VoS response relates to the study being undertaken by that student, which may differ from the standard programme or qualification approved by TEC.

It should be consistent with that approval, therefore where it is significantly different, MSD may decide to raise this difference with either the education provider or TEC.

If you have any concerns about a VoS response being different from the TEC approval you should raise them with your manager.

The Tertiary Education Commission has more information about its role and responsibilities.