Deakin Achieving Potential Scholarship

A Deakin Achieving Potential Scholarship offers financial support to students who display passion, perseverance and commitment to study, and experience financial or personal hardship.

This scholarship program is supported by a community of generous donors who are committed to increasing educational pathways, and building a brighter future for students who chose to study at Deakin. As a recipient of this scholarship program, you are joining a network of donors and students who believe in changing the future for the better.

Important dates

Applications for Trimester/Semester 1 2025 open 5 September 2024.

Applications for Trimester/Semester 1 2025 close 7 January 2025 at 5pm.

Scholarship offer rounds

Round 1: To be considered for these Round 1 scholarship offers you will need to submit your application and all supporting documentation by 7 January 2025 at 5pm.

We will be aiming for full allocation at this round.

Re-offer Round: To be considered for any remaining scholarships, not taken up in previous offer rounds, you will need to submit your application and all supporting documentation by 31 January 2025 at 5pm.

All scholarships will be offered within six weeks of the Re-offer round closing date.

Benefits

Various options for support are available:

  • $10,000 per year for the normal duration of your course ($1250 per credit point) or
  • $7500 per year for the normal duration of your course ($937.50 per credit point) or
  • $5000 per year for the normal duration of your course ($625 per credit point)

Eligibility criteria

Prospective candidates should ensure they meet all criteria before submitting their application.

To be eligible you must be:

  • an Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen, Australian permanent resident or hold an Australian permanent humanitarian visa
  • enrolled in an associate, bachelor or honours degree in a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) or postgraduate by coursework degree (CSP or full fee)
  • enrolled at Deakin University in Trimester/Semester 1 2025
  • enrolled full time unless there are circumstances preventing full-time study
  • experiencing an area of hardship.

Areas of hardship

The Deakin Achieving Potential Scholarship is aimed to provide support for students experiencing hardship.

Areas of hardship include:

  • financial hardship – either that you are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink benefit, Low Income Health Care Card or have a personal or family taxable income below the threshold determined by the University
  • rural, regional or remote home location
  • disability/long term medical condition
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background
  • arrive in Australia as a refugee
  • other demonstrable hardship.

Conditions

Recipients of this scholarship, may be asked to participate in donor engagement activities as would be considered reasonable. Details of these activities will be included within the scholarship offer letter.

These engagement opportunities are important so supporters who donate to the Scholarship Fund can learn more about the impact of their giving, and students can learn more about the people who are helping to support their education ambitions.

Your application

Supporting documentation

As part of the application process you will also be required to upload supporting documentation by the closing date listed above.

Make sure you choose the correct document type when you upload your documents as it will make a difference.  If your documents are uploaded into the incorrect type they will not be considered when assessing your application. Remember it is quality, not quantity, which you need to provide.  Aim to provide documents which are current, relevant and concise.

The supporting documentation required includes:

  • evidence of your financial hardship (if applicable)
  • evidence of your medical condition (if applicable)

Learn more about supporting documents

Application tips

Applying for a scholarship isn't just about meeting the eligibility criteria.

It's a good idea to think about why you want a scholarship, it’s your opportunity to stand out from the crowd and be recognised for where you’ve come from and where you need to go.

Read more about our top tips for applying for a scholarship

How to apply

Apply through VTAC

If you’ve applied to study at Deakin through VTAC and have completed a VTAC scholarship application, you’ll be considered for this scholarship.

Apply directly to Deakin

All other applicants can apply for this scholarship directly to Deakin through our Scholarship Application Portal.

When applying direct to Deakin for this scholarship, select either the 'Undergraduate Scholarship Application Tri/Sem 1 2025' or the 'Postgraduate Scholarship Application Tri/Sem 1 2025' option and, if eligible, your application will automatically be considered for this scholarship.

This reduces the number of scholarships you have to apply for and increases your chances of receiving a Deakin scholarship.

Apply for this scholarship

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

What happens next?

Your application will be assessed and ranked based on the details you provide and your supporting documentation.

We will commence offering scholarships progressively from mid-January 2025. To give your application the best chance possible of being considered in all offer rounds, you should submit your application and supporting documentation by 9 January 2025 at 5pm.

If you are successful, you will be contacted by the email address you nominated in your application portal account, unsuccessful applicants will not be contacted. You'll find out if you are successful usually within six weeks of the Re-offer round closing date. If you have not received an offer by this time, you have been unsuccessful. You can view the status of your application via your scholarship application portal account.

Next offering period

This scholarship is yet to be confirmed for any future offering periods. Please check back at this page at a later date for any updates.