Inder Kaur Scholarship

This scholarship provides up to $7,000 per year ($3,500 per semester) for the standard duration of program.

To be eligible for this scholarship you must:

• identify as a woman
• be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, Australian permanent resident, or a permanent humanitarian visa holder
• be enrolling full-time in semester 1 and 2 2025 at RMIT in a bachelor's degree program
• have at least one year of your program left to complete
• be able to demonstrate financial hardship such as:
  • receiving a government tested low income benefit or having a Centrelink Health Care Card
• be able to demonstrate circumstance/s which impact your ability to study such as:
  • living with a disability, long-term medical condition or identify as neurodivergent
  • experiencing personal/family/social difficulties
  • be from an interstate or rural/regional area and moving/moved to Melbourne to study at RMIT
  • have previously/are currently living in foster/kinship care or are a ward of the state
  • be from an under-represented background such as
    • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
    • were born overseas, are from a non-English background and recently migrated to Australia
    • current or former refugee
    • completed secondary school at a School Network Access Program school
• be passionate about your education.
  

Preference will be given to current or former refugees, or the child of a past refugee.

The link to the application form will be provided here once 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 copy of your current or former permanent humanitarian visa or refugee documentation from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (if applicable)
• A copy of your academic transcript if you studied at an institution other than RMIT.

Please visit Supporting Your Application for more information.

Application questions

If you are shortlisted for the scholarship, you will be contacted to answer further application questions. Please check the email address you nominate in your scholarship application form at least twice per week. It is expected that the online application will take approximately thirty minutes to complete. The questions are listed below to allow you time to prepare your answers in advance.

• What motivated you to choose your RMIT program? Include the steps you have taken to achieve your educational goals.
• What are your future plans and career aspirations?
• What current challenges do you face in your studies and how will a scholarship help you to overcome this?

Find out more about applying for scholarships.

Applications are now closed. The next round of applications for 2027 will open in August 2026.

Applications are now closed.

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

Education was a passion for Inder Kaur. She was taken out of school in Rawalpindi after the 8th grade because she was a girl. After the partition of India in 1947, the family including her husband and three daughters left their ancestral home in Rawalpindi and became refugees. She began studying again, while helping to support her family.

Inder Kaur graduated with a Masters degree in Punjabi from the University of Delhi in 1958 when she was 47 years old. This was a rare accomplishment. She became the Founding Principal of three women's colleges in Punjab, India.

The Inder Kaur Scholarship is being established to honour her initiative, daring and persistence in following her dream of education.

Find out how to contact the Coursework Scholarships Office.