Rural Grant

For diploma and degree students from a farming background; worth up to $5,000.

Icon - scholarships

Applications now closed

This grant provides a one-off payment of up to $5,000.

To be eligible for this grant, you must:

  • be an Australian citizen
  • be enrolling full-time in semester 1 and 2 in a RMIT diploma or degree program in 2024
  • have a farming background (i.e., your family’s primary income comes from farming)
  • be able to demonstrate financial disadvantage such as:
    • receiving a government tested low income benefit or having a Centrelink Health Care Card
  • have at least one year of your program left to complete
  • be moving/moved from a rural/regional area to either: 
    • Melbourne to study at RMIT's City, Brunswick or Bundoora Campus, or 
    • Bendigo to study at RMIT's Bendigo Campus.

The online application form will be made available here when applications open. 

Supporting documentation

Depending on your circumstances, you will need to provide different types of evidence and material to support your scholarship application. Applications without supporting documents will not be considered.

You will also need:

  • A letter from your family’s solicitor or accountant that clearly states that your family’s primary income comes from farming, dated no more than three months ago

Please visit Supporting Your Application for more information.

Application questions

It is expected that the online application will take approximately thirty minutes to complete. The main application questions are listed below to allow you time to prepare your answers prior to starting the online application.

  • What motivated you to choose your RMIT program? Include the steps you have taken to achieve your educational goals.
  • What are you future plans and career aspirations?
  • Discuss your farming background, including the type of farm and the rural/regional area you grew up in.
  • If you travel home throughout the academic year, how frequently do you return? Do you work on the farm and is this work paid or unpaid?

Find out more about applying for scholarships.

Applications are now closed.

This scholarship will next be offered for Semester 1, 2025, with applications opening January 2025.

Applications are now closed.

View the Coursework Scholarships Office’s terms and conditions (PDF, 698KB).

Since 1994, an anonymous donor has provided funding to assist students with a farming background to complete their program at RMIT. This support fund recognises the difficulties that students face when coming from a farming family to study in Melbourne.

Quotes from past recipients:

"The scholarship received made me feel relieved and proud. I was relieved from financial stress which allowed me to increase my potential at university. An increased focus and mentality to work harder was the leading source of this relief as I believed in myself that I can do better. Secondly I felt proud to receive this scholarship because the generosity of receiving this scholarship. It allowed myself and others from rural areas to relocate for university, which can be troubling for a lot of students. Scholarships such as the one I received brings a positive future for students who are struggling and allows them to achieve great potential. " - Bachelor of Economics and Finance student

Find out how to contact the Coursework Scholarships Office.

Notice to applicants

The scholarship application process is highly competitive with a limited number of scholarships available. Unfortunately, not all eligible applicants will receive one.

Only successful candidates will be notified via email to their RMIT student account.

For information about other financial assistance available to RMIT students, please speak to one of our Student Welfare Advisors.

aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.