tcross - I am still confused as to how you worked out your figures.
Sharps you pay up front lets say $94k so thats your starting debt. Then you also must cover food and lodging on top of that.
Rex you get a $40k loan and rex spots you the rest as a low interest loan and salary sacrifice. (assuming you don't get the scholarship)
After you complete the course at sharps there is no guarantee of continued employment.
After you complete the rex course you are an employee of the rex group.
If you wish to leave rex earlier than the 5-6 year 'lock in' you just pay back your debts with market rate interest. So you are then paying the total $80k back yourself. Where as sharps you are continually paying market rate interest on your $84k loan.
If you stay the term at rex you will finnish with at most $20k debt and if you got the scholarship plus the governments planned rebate for two years service you may be debt free.
After reading the rex EBA you will also note the FO salary starts at 42K and increases over the first 3 year of service to 49K and with allowances will be over 50K, not great but better than $39K.
The rex program may not be the best offer on the planet but I do think it out does some of the other options. This comparison is based on publicly available meterial. I think there are still many things with both programs you need to clarify by asking questions and reading fine print.