Almost 500 diplomas – including in fitness coaching, fashion styling and art therapy – are set to be stripped of access to government subsidies under an overhaul of the vocational loans scheme by the Turnbull government.
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Of the more than 800 vocational courses currently eligible for government loans, only 347 are expected to receive support under the redesigned scheme.
The hit list of unapproved courses to be released on Monday also includes diplomas in musical theatre, journalism, jewellery design, mind body medicine, clinical hypnotherapy and Christian counselling.
The Turnbull government last week said it would scrap the scandal-plagued VET FEE-HELP loans program and replace it with a new scheme, VET Student Loans, from January 1.
Under VET FEE-HELP all diploma-level courses were eligible for loans, which allowed students to delay paying their fees until they started earning $54,126 a year.
In the future only courses that feature on two state and territory skills needs lists will receive access to loans.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said: "Currently there are far too many courses that are being subsidised that are used simply to boost enrolments or provide 'lifestyle' choices but don't lead to work.
"VET Student Loans will only support legitimate students to undertake worthwhile and value-for-money courses at quality training providers."
Senator Birmingham said all agriculture, engineering, information technology and natural and physical science courses would remain on the approved list, reflecting the importance of these fields to the economy.
Vocational education providers will have two weeks to argue why any of the 478 courses on the draft rejected list deserve to be eligible for loans. But Senator Birmingham said they would have to demonstrate very strong job outcomes to be included.
The vast majority – 95 per cent – of the 144,000 students in the current VET FEE-HELP scheme are studying in courses on the new approved list. About 7000 are studying in courses expected to be excluded.
The unapproved course with the highest number of enrolments is the advanced diploma of architectural building design, which is offered by RMIT University and several TAFEs.
Most courses on the unapproved list have no subsidised students enrolled.
The government will also on Monday release details of the loan caps that will apply to different courses under the new scheme.
Students in courses such as landscape design, horticulture and engineering will be able to borrow up to $15,000.
Those in nursing, early childhood education, building and construction, beauty therapy and information technology will be eligible for loans of $10,000.
Students enrolled in diplomas of business and accounting will be eligible for loans of $5000.
The overhaul of the loans scheme is expected to reduce the outstanding level of debt in the government's Higher Education Loan Program, which covers university and vocational loans, by $7 billion over the next four years and $25 billion over the decade.
One of Australia's largest private colleges, the Australian Institute of Professional Education, said on Friday it had gone into voluntary administration leaving up to 16,000 students in limbo.
