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Fee Capping Process

This documentation assumes knowledge of information given in Understanding Student Finance and the Fee Assessment process (FINJ3500).

An overview for the specialist user gives information about setting up the Finance subsystem and the concepts that underpin this task. The section Special Topics deals with some aspects of the subsystem in greater depth.

In this document:

• Fee Capping
• Initial Set Up
• Fee Cap Process
• Fee Capping for Fee Maintenance and Combo Courses

Fee Capping

Fee capping occurs any time the Enrolment Fee processing is performed (see FINJ3500 or ENRF3000). A fee cap is the mimimum and maximum assessment amount that a student can be charged for a particular period.

Currently, fee capping is only applicable to VET-TUIT or VET System Fee Types with a Management Level of UNIT.

Note: If a student is studying a VET course which began prior 1st of July 2009, they may be under a Fee Maintenance arrangement (see below). These courses currently apply to institutions in Victoria only.

Initial Set-Up

The following must be set up first before fee capping can occur for a VET or VET-TUIT Fee Type during fee processing:

• Create a Fee Cap Calendar Instance in CALF0220.
• Create any required concessions in Maintain Concession Type (ENRF02T0).
• For each Fee Type belonging to the Fee Type Group, check the Fee Cap check box in FINF2100, to indicate that capping will be processed for the Fee Type.
• Create a Fee Type Group to group the Fee Types. See FINF2105.
• Create any applicable Course Categories (CRSF1130) and apply them to Course Versions (CRSF1270) or Course Offering Instances (CRSF1530) as required.
• Pair the Fee Type Group with a Fee Cap Calendar Instance in FINF2120 and record Minimum and Maximum Overall Assessment Amounts (i.e. cap amounts) for the Fee Type Group.
• Create a Fee Cap record in FINF2125 to create records to which the fee cap process can match (see Step 6 below):
  • Enter required matching attributes.
  • Enter Mimimum and maximum amounts that a person can be assessed for a Fee Type Group in a given calendar instance. (These amounts must be within the range specified in FINF2120.)

Fee Cap Process

The fee capping process that occurs can be summarised as follows:

For cap-enabled VET and VET-TUIT Fee Types belonging to a Fee Type Group and Course Category (see CRSF1270), the following process occurs (as shown above):

1. The initial fee assessment process outlined in FINJ3500 occurs.

2. Determines if the Fee Type can be capped. Capping applies if the Fee Cap check box was selected in FINF2100.

• If the Fee Cap checkbox is not selected for the Fee Type, then capping is not performed.

3. Determines is the Fee Type belongs to a Fee Type Group. (FINF2105 is used to add a Fee Type to a Fee Type Group.)

4. If the Fee Type does not belong to a Fee Type Group, then the assessment is rolled back and capping is not performed.

5. Determines if the Unit Activity Start Date is within the start and end dates of the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance. (A Fee Type Group is paired with a Fee Type Fee Cap Calendar Instance period in FINF2120.)

• The Unit Activity Start Date is the first date found when looking at the following values in order:
  • Student Unit Attempt (SUA) Enrolment Activity Start Date
  • Unit Offering Option (UOO) Enrolment Activity Start Date Alias
  • Unit Offering Pattern (UOP) Enrolment Activity Start Date Alias
  • Unit Offering Enrolment Activity Start Date Alias
  • Enrolment Calendar Configuration Enrolment Activity Start Date Alias
  • Teaching Period Start Date

(Note: Performance of the capping process is improved if the Unit Activity Start Date is populated on the Student Unit Attempt table. If nothing is found, step 4 above, occurs.)

6. Determines if the unit and course match a cap in FINF2125. If no match exists, the capping process skips to overall capping at step 19, below. The matching process will run through each Fee Cap record (defined in FINF2125) in order of the Order of Precedence and match on each defined attribute. The attributes are defined as follows:

• Fee Maintenance – matches on the status of the Fee Maintenance indicator defined in ENRF3000.
• Course Category – matches against the Course Categorisation of the Course Version (potentially overridden at the Course Offering Instance for the year of the unit being assessed).
• Concession Type – recorded for a person in ENRF32Y0. This will be matched if the person holds a concession at the start date of the unit being assessed.
• SCA Funding Source – recorded against the Student Course Attempt in ENRF3000.

The Fee Capping process will use the minimum and maximum defined in the Fee Cap record which matches all defined attributes.

7. Gathers Student Course Attempt (SCA) information to determine if the course is in a Fee Maintenance arrangement by checking the SCA to see if the Fee Maintenance indicator is checked (ENRF3000).

Note: If a student is studying a VET course which began prior 1st of July 2009, they may be under a Fee Maintenance arrangement. (See FINF2125 and ENRF3000.)

8. If the course is a Fee Maintenance course, all Fee Maintenance transactions recorded for the course in the Fee Cap period are calculated and capped according to the fee cap found at step 6 above. Cumulative Assessed debt includes all assessments for other Fee Maintenance courses when capped. Go to step 14 below. (For more information, see the Fee Maintenance section below.)

9. Determines if the course is marked as the First Skills Reform Course after the Fee Maintenance course, by checking the SCA to see if the Fee Maintenance indicator is checked (ENRF3000). (For a definition, see the Fee Maintenance section, below.)

10. If the course is a First Skills Reform course any assessments calculated for the Fee Maintenance course are considered and Cumulative Assessed debt includes all assessments for all Fee Maintenance courses when capped. Go to step 14 below.

11. Determines if the course is marked as an Apprenticeship or Traineeship. (For more information, see the Fee Maintenance section, below.)

12. If the course is an Apprenticeship or Traineeship, Cumulative Assessed debt includes all assessments for all other Apprenticeship courses when capped. Go to step 14 below.

Note: When determining if the SCA is an Apprenticeship or Traineeship, the Fee Assessment process uses the Funding Source defined in STAF1127. If the institution-defined Funding Source in the SCA is mapped to a 'State' level Funding Source and the Apprenticeship/Traineeship indicator is checked, then the course is an Apprenticeship/Traineeship for the purposes of fee capping. (For more information, see the Fee Maintenance section, below.)

13. If the course is not marked as an Apprenticeship or Traineeship, Cumulative Assessed debt includes all assessments for all other courses of the same Default Course Category when capped. i.e. All assessments within a particular Course Category are capped within that Course Category, for example, all 'Skills Deepening' courses (applicable to Victoria only) will be capped together.

14. Determines if Cumulative Assessed Debt (determined in steps 7 - 13) for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is less than the Cap Minimum found in step 6, above.

15. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is less than the Cap Minimum, any required adjustments are made to ensure that the total of all transactions equals the minimum. Proceed from step 19 below.

16. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is not less than the Cap Minimum found in FINF2125, determines if the Cumulative Assessed debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is greater than the Cap Maximum found in step 6 above.

17. If the Cumulative Assessed debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is greater than the Cap Maximum, any required adjustments are made to ensure that the total of all transactions equals the maximum. Go to step 19 below.

18. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is not greater than the Cap Maximum found in step 6, then the Cumulative Assessed Debt is therefore between the Maximum and Minimum (as determined at step 15 above). In this case no capping should be recorded. However, as some cap records may exist, any required adjustments are made to ensure that the total of all cap transactions is zero.

19. Determines if the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is less than the Overall Minimum found in FINF2120.

20. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is less than the Overall Minimum, any required adjustments are made to ensure that the total of all transactions equals the minimum. Go to step 23.

21. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is not less than the Overall Minimum in FINF2120, determines if the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is greater than the Cap Overall Maximum found in FINF2120.

22. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is greater than the Cap Overall Maximum in FINF2120, any required admustments are made to ensure that the total of all transactions equals the maximum. Go to step 23.

23. If the Cumulative Assessed Debt for the Fee Type Group Calendar Instance is not greater than the Cap Overall Maximum, then the Cumulative Assessed Debt is therefore between the Overall Maximum and Minimum (as determined at step 20 above). In this case no capping should be recorded. However, as some cap records may exist, any required adjustments are made to ensure that the total of all cap transactions is zero.

Fee Capping for Fee Maintenance and Combo Courses

This section applies to Victorian institutions only.

If a student is studying a VET course in Victoria which began prior 1st of July 2009, they may be under a Fee Maintenance arrangement. In this case the Fee Maintenance indicator in the Skills Reform step in ENRF3000 will be ticked for this course. (See FINF2125 and ENRF3000.)

When a student studies a Fee Maintenance course and then, while studying that course, begins another Skills Reform course after the 1/7/2009, this course may be marked in ENRF3000 as the 'First Skills Reform Course After Fee Maintenance', and will be considered in combination with the Fee Maintenance course in terms of capping (i.e. a ‘combo’ course).

A SR course is a course begun after 01/07/2009 funded by Skills Victoria (and therefore applicable to institutions in Victoria only) that is classified under one of the new Skills Reform Course categories, or as an Apprenticeship or Traineeship. (See ENRF3000 and CRSF1130.) There are currently (as at October 2009) four course categories, and different caps and charge rates apply to each course category:

• Foundation (Foundation Level and Pre-Accredited Courses)
• Skills Creation (Certificate I and II)
• Skills Building (Certificate III and IV)
• Skills Deepening (Diploma and Advanced Diploma)

For Fee Maintenance and 'combo' courses, the Fee Assessment process calculates the fee caps as follows:

• All Fee Maintenance transactions recorded in the Fee Cap period are calculated and capped as described for Fee Type Groups above, according to the Fee Maintenance cap defined in FINF2125.
• The first SR course studied after 1st of July 2009 is capped as outlined above. However, when determining if the cap is reached, any assessments calculated for the Fee Maintenance course are considered.
• Any other SR course of the same course category studied in the same period, uses the above values also uses any assessments calculated for the Fee Maintenance and Combo course to determine if the cap has been reached.
• Any other SR course of a different category is capped to its own cap values under the standard process.

For example:

Scenario - Units from multiple courses with intertwining start dates with Fee Maintenance Combo:

If a student is studying a Fee Maintenance course in combination with a SR course, all of the Fee Maintenance units must be assessed and capped before the SR units are calculated.

Each unit is charged $300. The Fee Maintenance cap is $877 and the Skills Building cap is $1000. The capping in this scenario would look like this:

Note that even though UNIT3 has a start date after UNITA, because it is part of a Fee Maintenance course the assessments and capping made for UNIT3 must be considered when calculating the capping of the Skills Building course. This means that if a Fee Maintenance unit is added at any point throughout the enrolment, fee assessment and capping processing will need to be run for all Fee Maintenance and Combo course categories.

The total the student will pay in the Fee Cap Period is $1000.

Last Modified on 11 October, 2010 4:23 PM

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