Scholarships

Scholarships for Students with a Disability

If you have a disability, this doesn’t have to stop you from attending university. Alongside dedicated support services, heaps of institutions also offer special scholarships for students with a disability. In this blog, we’ve found some you might like to take a look at.

Who are these scholarships for?

Disability scholarships are often open to students with many different disabilities. This can include physical disabilities, learning and cognitive disabilities, sensory issues, and even mental health issues.

Some particular scholarships may target students with a specific disability (eg. deaf and hard-of-hearing students, students with autism) so make sure you read the eligibility criteria carefully before you apply.

Why should I apply for a scholarship?

There are lots of reasons a scholarship can help with your studies. They can provide financial assistance towards things like mobility aids, adaptive technology, and other study costs. Some scholarships come with additional access to support services, or priority access to accommodation.

Each year there are hundreds of scholarships that go unawarded because nobody applies – so it’s always worth having a go.

Top scholarships for students with a disability

Here are some scholarships for students with a disability you might like to check out:

Walter and Eliza Hall Trust Opportunity Scholarship – a scholarship worth up to $10,000 each year for a student with a physical disability to help cover educational expenses.

Vision Australia Further Education Bursary – provides adaptive technology to help students who are blind or have low vision to succeed in their studies.

Australian Disability and Indigenous Peoples’ Education Fund – provides small six monthly grants of up to $2,500 to assist people with disabilities to continue their learning.

Redkite Dare to Dream Scholarship – open to any teenager in Australia who has cancer or has had cancer at any point in their life. Teens can receive up to $5,000 to help them achieve a goal.

Northcott Scholarship Opportunities – support for people with a disability currently studying at TAFE, University or other Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

You can find lots more scholarship opportunities on our database here.

Scholarships for Students Experiencing Financial Difficulty

Going to university can be really expensive – not only do you need to think about course fees, there’s also the cost of textbooks, technology, travel to and from campus or accommodation fees, and more. It can be easy to be put off studies because of the cost, but there is help out there. Lots of universities offer scholarships for students experiencing financial difficulty.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible for one of these scholarships, you’ll need to be experiencing some kind of financial hardship. This can be that your parents are facing financial difficulty, or yourself if you’re independent. Some universities will specify an exact amount you need to be earning less than, while others test on a case-by-case basis.

There are different ways universities verify your eligibility, but it’s usually done by seeing whether you receive means-tested Centrelink benefits, or by providing a statutory declaration.

Top scholarships for students experiencing financial difficulty

If you’re facing financial disadvantage and are looking for a scholarship to help, here are some of the best ones we’ve found:

Deakin Student Support Scholarship – offers up to $10,000 per year for students facing financial difficulty.

You can find lots more scholarship opportunities on our database here.