Eligibility requirements

Scholarships are not assessed on academic performance but on your personal financial situation. If you cannot find a suitable scholarship, you can also see what externally funded scholarships are available to you.

Most scholarships are only available to students enrolled on a full-time basis.

• For a undergraduate students, 75% of a normal full time load is 0.375 EFTSL (36 credit points) per semester, usually three units per semester.
• For a TAFE student, 75% of a normal full time load is a minimum of 270 study hours per year.

There are limited circumstances in which a scholarship can be granted to a part-time student, such as illness or other exceptional circumstances. Part-time students need to submit a statement with supporting documentation demonstrating exceptional circumstances to be considered for a scholarship.

Students who are registered with VU Disability Services are eligible for scholarships if enrolled part time.

Application rounds

There are two scholarship application rounds each year for undergraduate students - August to October for the following year and June to July for mid year.

There is only one round of applications for TAFE students - mid year, May to June.

Postgraduate scholarships are available in January to March each year.

Externally funded scholarships are offered throughout the year.

Applying for a scholarship

You can apply for all available scholarships, regardless of which year of your course you are in. VU Access scholarships are available for both continuing and commencing students. Even if you are in your last year of study, you could still receive a VU Access Scholarship and be paid $1,000 in your final year.

If you are an Australian citizen, permanent resident or holder of a permanent visa and not currently enrolled at VU, you can apply for a scholarship online through My Scholarship Applications.

Current VU students should log in into MYVU Portal and use STUDENT CONNECT to apply for a scholarship or modify a current application.

If you are awarded a scholarship for a specific number of years you won't need to re-apply each year, but you will need to sign a declaration that you are still eligible before each payment.

International students should contact Victoria University International for all scholarships enquiries.

Applying for multiple scholarships

When you complete an application for a scholarship, you will be assessed for all of the scholarships available at that time. You will only be granted one scholarship if your application is successful.

While you are able to apply for a scholarship of higher value or longer duration, in most cases you can only hold one scholarship. You are not eligible for a VU Access Scholarship if you already have a Commonwealth Scholarship. An Equity scholarship will not be granted if you already hold one or more external scholarships.

You will need to relinquish the scholarship of lesser value if you are successful in your application for another scholarship. You may be able to hold both scholarships if you are awarded the other on the basis of academic success, or from an external organisation, but we will ask to assess the effect on your income.

Completing your application

In order to improve your chance of being granted a scholarship, you must make sure you complete your application in full. Incomplete applications will be disadvantaged in the assessment process, as they may receive fewer points when they are scored. Late applications will not be assessed.

You can preview the questions before you start the application to make sure you have everything you need. You can also save your application and return later to edit your answers at any time (make sure to select SUBMIT & LOCK when you have answered everything).

If you make a mistake with your online application or are finding it difficult to obtain the required documents or answer a particular question, phone the Scholarships Office on +61 3 9919 5568 or email scholarships@vu.edu.au.

Supporting documentation

If you do not provide all of the documentation that is required, your application will not be assessed. In order to be assessed, supporting documents must be received within seven days of the application closing date.

In some circumstances we may extend the time for submission. Please phone the Scholarships Office +61 3 9919 5568 or email scholarships@vu.edu.au if this is the case. To ensure equity, applications are not assessed until after the closing date for all scholarships.

If you would like confirmation that we have received your supporting documentation, please send a stamped self-addressed envelope with your documents.

Unsuccessful applicants

There are many reasons why your scholarship application may have been unsuccessful. You may have been ineligible at the time of application, or we received a large number of applications in comparison to the number of scholarships we had to award.

We encourage you to apply again for the next available round of scholarships as you may have only just missed out.

Contact us

Find out more about scholarship payments and ongoing eligibility as well as income and tax matters. You can also read the scholarships policy, which is reviewed annually.

TAFE and undergraduate students should phone the Scholarships Office on +61 3 9919 5568 or email scholarships@vu.edu.au.

Research students should phone the Graduate Research Centre on +61 3 9919 4659 or email lesley.birch@vu.edu.au.

International students should phone VU International on +61 3 9919 1164 or email international@vu.edu.au.