Over 1000+ Regional Scholarships Programs are Available – Australian Government

Regional Scholarships Program

Applications for Round 6 of the RRES Program are now open for those students commencing study in 2022.
Over 1000 Regional Scholarships Programs are available this year until fully allocated.
Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships (RRES)

The Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships (RRES) program was announced in 2016 to help Australians in regional and remote areas to access higher education. It supports people studying from Certificate IV through to Ph.D. level.

Over 4,000 students have received scholarship funding since the program’s first round which commenced in 2018.

Scholarships support flexible study arrangements, and are available to eligible students:

  • commencing a new course of study in 2022
  • studying on campus, online, or via distance education
  • studying from six months full-time up to eight years part-time

Eligible students may receive up to $18,000 each (e.g. for a full-time, four-year qualification). Shorter, part-time qualifications are paid on a pro-rata basis. An extra $500 is also available to support an internship.

Note: Creative Arts Scholarships were available in 2021 only. Current recipients of the program can log in here.

Benefits

The Scholarship payments will assist the Recipient with the financial costs of attending their institution and undertaking their Eligible Course of Study and Internship.

The Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships Program can provide:

  • Funding up to $18,000, based on course length and type of study or training.
  • A further $500 to support an internship.

Scholarship eligibility criteria

Applications must meet all eligibility criteria to be considered for assessment.

Scholarship Applicant eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a Scholarship, the Scholarship Applicant must:
• be an Australian citizen, Permanent Resident, holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, or a
New Zealand citizen living in Australia;

  • not have commenced their Eligible Course of Study prior to the eligible Commencement Period;
  • provide evidence to demonstrate their financial need;
  • have a permanent home address (for example, a family home for school leavers) in a regional or
    the remote area as defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016.1
    – If a Scholarship Applicant relocates to a major city to study, evidence of relocation from
    their permanent regional home address to study must be provided.
    – The Scholarship Applicant must not have relocated to a major city more than 3 months
    prior to commencing the chosen course of study.

Eligible Courses of Study

Eligible Courses of Study are those that meet the following requirements listed under Eligible
Providers, Accredited Courses, Field of Study, Level of Study, Commencement Period, and Mode of Study.

Eligible Providers

Scholarship Applicants must propose and undertake their course of study at an Eligible Provider.

An Eligible Provider is either a:

  • registered training organization (RTO) registered with the Australian Skills Quality Authority
    (AQSA), Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) or the Training Accreditation
    Council Western Australia (TAC)2, or
  • higher education providers registered with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency
    (TEQSA).3

The Department advises the Scholarship Support Organisation of higher education or training
providers for which issues of financial viability, quality, or unethical behavior have been identified
and may, at its discretion, require that a higher education or training provider not be considered an
Eligible Provider for the purposes of the Program.

Eligibility

RRES is available to students who:

  • meet Australian citizenship or residency requirements
  • are commencing a new course of study in the same year as the relevant scholarship round
  • can provide evidence of the financial need
  • have a permanent home address in a regional or remote area, as defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

Selection

Your application will be assessed on two main selection criteria:

  1. Financial Need: You will need to provide documentary evidence to demonstrate financial need.
  2. Capability: You must provide a written response describing:
  • A past educational achievement; AND/OR
  • A work achievement; AND/OR
  • Other achievements that help to demonstrate your ability to undertake your Eligible Course of Study.

Process overview

  • Application period
    Applicants complete and submit a scholarship application.
  • Application Assessment
    The Scholarship Support Organisation checks all applications for eligibility and assesses eligible
    applications.
  • Scholarship Recipient Selection
    The Scholarship Support Organisation decides which applications are successful.
  • Scholarship Outcomes Notification
    The Scholarship Support Organisation will advise applicants of the outcome of their applications.
  • Scholarship Agreements Finalised
    The Scholarship Support Organisation enters into a Scholarship Agreement with successful
    applicants.
  • Scholarship Program Undertaken
    Scholarship Recipients undertake their scholarship programs as set out in their Scholarship
    Agreements. The Scholarship Support Organisation will manage scholarships by working with
    Scholarship Recipients, monitoring their progress and making payments.

Scholarship selection process

Application process overview

Applicants must submit a complete application, including supporting documentation, to the
Scholarship Support Organisation. Advice on making an application is published on the websites of
the Scholarship Support Organisation and the Department.
Applications submitted are checked for compliance with the eligibility conditions described at Section 5.
Eligible applications are assessed, which includes consideration of the selection criteria (Section 7),
by the Scholarship Support Organisation.
Based on this assessment, the Scholarship Support Organisation decides which Scholarship Applicants receive a Scholarship.
Scholarships are allocated to eligible applicants until all Round 6 scholarships have been exhausted.
Priority or special consideration may be given to students in the categories included in Section 7.
Unsuccessful Scholarship Applicants for one round may submit a new application in the future
Scholarship round. The eligibility and selection criteria will still apply, and students are not
guaranteed a Scholarship.

When to apply

Scholarship application round details, such as the opening date, and current Program Guidelines, are
published on the websites of the Scholarship Support Organisation and the Department.

Completing the Scholarship application

A complete application must include:

  • a completed online application form located on the Scholarship Support Organisation website;
  • supporting documentation (refer to below).

If more than one application from the same Scholarship Applicant is received by the Scholarship
Support Organisation, only the latest application received will be assessed. If an application for a
A scholarship Applicant is received after a previous application has been assessed and is deemed
unsuccessful, the Scholarship Support Organisation will assess the new application.

Supporting documentation

Applicants must submit the following documentation with their completed application form:

  • evidence of Australian citizenship, permanent residency, holding a permanent humanitarian
    visa or being a New Zealand citizen living in Australia;
  • proof of residence in a regional or remote area in Australia (see Section 5.1);
  • evidence of financial need (see Section 5.3); and
  • evidence of eligibility for Other considerations (see Section 7).

Questions during the application process

Questions during the application process must be directed to the Scholarship Support Organisation.

Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships: Regional Scholarships Programs Guidelines

Notification of application outcomes

The Scholarship Support Organisation will advise Scholarship Applicants of the outcome of their
application via email following assessment.

Feedback on applications

Unsuccessful Scholarship Applicants may request feedback on their applications from the
Scholarship Support Organisation. The process for requesting feedback will be advised in the written
notification

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