RMIT Welcome Scholarship

The RMIT Welcome Scholarship will be awarded in 2022 for the standard full-time duration of an RMIT certificate, diploma, advanced diploma, associate degree or bachelor degree program.

The scholarship consists of full program tuition fees and Student Services and Amenities Fees (SSAF) paid per semester.

Some scholarship recipients may also receive a study/living allowance of up to $5,000 per year (paid fortnightly throughout semester 1 and 2).

Note:  any material fees required for your program or fines are not included in this scholarship.

Existing 2021 recipients of a tuition fee waiver for Welcome Scholars (formerly known as the RMIT People Seeking Asylum Scholarship):

Welcome Scholars receiving tuition fees paid in 2021 and continuing in the same program in 2021 may apply to be considered for the living/study allowance. If you are changing your program for 2022 and apply for the 2022 RMIT Welcome Scholarship, you will be considered for both the tuition fees, SSAF and the living allowance (please ensure you apply for your program by 1 December 2021).

There are a limited number of tuition fee waiver scholarships available. The number of scholarships available is dependent on the program you will be studying in 2022 and the final number of scholarship places available may be subject to change:

Note: There may be more eligible applicants than scholarship places available, therefore not all eligible students may receive a scholarship offer. If you have a received a packaged program offer, please note that your scholarship duration will only apply to your first program, and not for the entire length of all the programs in that package.

To be eligible for this scholarship, you must:

• hold either a:
• Temporary Protection Visa (V785) or
• Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) or
• be a person seeking asylum on Bridging Visa E (BVE);
• be a commencing or continuing full-time student enrolled or intending to enrol in Semester 1 2022 at RMIT University Melbourne campus (Melbourne CBD, Brunswick, Bundoora only)
• have a program offer at RMIT University for semester 1 2022 in an eligible program* by 7 January 2022
• be able to demonstrate financial disadvantage

Selection
Information supplied in the application/s will be assessed and ranked. Some programs have quotas for how many scholarships can be awarded.

Exclusions: scholarships are not available for applicants applying for programs delivered at Point Cook or Bendigo campuses and people seeking asylum on Bridging Visa A (BVA).

*See the 'Number' section above.

The online application form will be made available here when applications open. In order to be considered for this scholarship, you must submit a complete online application. Partial applications will not be assessed.

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.

Please visit Supporting documentation for more information.

You will need to provide the following:

1. a copy of your visa statement (it must include your full name)
2. evidence of financial hardship:
   • if you are in receipt of Centrelink payments you must provide a Centrelink statement showing your Special Benefit (SB) or Status Resolution Support Services Payment (SRSS) dated within the last three months, with your full name visible or
   • provide your own financial documents confirming your financial status or financial documents from those who support you financially.
   • The documentation accepted is: the 2020-2021 ATO Notice of Assessment and 3 most recent payslips for yourself and all the people who support you financially
3. Letter of recommendation: A letter of recommendation is a statement of support written by someone who knows you or is aware of your circumstances. RMIT will accept one of the following types of recommendations:
   • One letter from a community organisation with specialist services that support people seeking asylum or refugees who can confirm your membership or involvement with that organisation OR
   • one letter from a teacher (current or past) or someone you know well who can highlight your academic and personal strengths and can include information about the type of social and/or emotional support that you have through family, friends or from your community as you look to commence further study

RMIT assess applicants for this scholarship based primarily on financial need, however, as part of its ranking will consider:

• evidence of long-term medical condition or disability which may have impacted your ability to study
• evidence of extenuating circumstances (e.g. carer duties) from applicants unable to study full-time, but will study part-time

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 in advance prior to starting the online application.

• What do you want to do after you complete your program? What are your future career plans?

Find out more about applying for scholarships.

Applications for 2022 are now closed.

Applications for 2022 are now closed.

View the Coursework Scholarships Office’s terms and conditions.

• Scholarship cannot be deferred or placed on hold in its first semester
• The continuation of the scholarship each semester is subject to meeting satisfactory academic performance
• Holders of the RMIT Welcome Scholarship must inform RMIT University immediately when their visa changes
• If government policies or your residency changes, and you become eligible for government programs that assist students with deferring fees (e.g. FEE-HELP, HECS-HELP, SA-HELP), then the appropriate tuition/SSAF paid portion of this scholarship will cease, but you may continue to receive the stipend payment
• Applications for a scholarship for part-time study may be approved in limited circumstances such as where current medical conditions/disability do not allow full-time study. Working or not being able to enrol full-time due to failed courses are not approved circumstances for studying part-time. Any recipients approved for their scholarship to continue whilst part-time enrolled will be paid at a half rate and it will be considered taxable as per Australian Tax Office regulations
• Receipients understand that in addition to the Coursework Scholarships Office communicating with you regarding your scholarship, you will also be receiving communications from RMIT’s Equity and Diversity team such as requests for feedback and information on your educational study and student experience.

Download the RMIT Welcome Scholarship for Refugees and Asylum Seekers Guide (PDF) for more information about how to apply for a program at RMIT.

Coursework Scholarships Office or inclusion@rmit.edu.au.