Commonwealth Scholarships

Description of the scholarship
What does the CS cover?

Description of the scholarships
 

The Commonwealth Scholarships Programme (formerly Commonwealth Scholarships) was introduced in 2004 to assist students from low socio-economic backgrounds, particularly those from rural and regional areas and Indigenous students, who are Australian citizens or holders of Australian permanent humanitarian visas, with costs associated with higher education. There are three scholarships – one for educational costs (Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarships (CECS)), one for accommodation costs (Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarships (CAS)) and from 2008 Indigenous Access Scholarships (IAS).  These scholarships are aimed at students doing undergraduate degrees, associate degrees and in some cases eligible enabling courses for Indigenous Students. Most are awarded on a competitive basis and are non-repayable.

2007-08 Budget Announcements

From 2008 the Commonwealth Scholarships Programme will be increased from around 8,500 to 12,000 scholarships a year at a cost of $91.4 million over four years. 

Two thousand of these new scholarships will be available for students to study two-year associate degrees as a pathway to full degrees.
 
In addition to this, the Australian Government has introduced the Indigenous Access Scholarships (IAS).  IAS will annually assist up to 1,000 Indigenous higher education students.  This comprises a once in a lifetime payment of $4,080 (2008 prices, indexed annually) to eligible Indigenous students.
 

In addition, new funding is also provided for an additional year for 700 CECS and 210 CAS for Indigenous students undertaking an eligible higher education enabling course.

These scholarships:

• target students from low socio-economic status backgrounds
• do not count as income for any social security income tests.

See also: Centrelink website  

• mostly will be allocated to eligible students on a competitive basis
• do not need to be repaid by the student.

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1. Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarships (CECS)

Many students from low socio-economic status backgrounds and Indigenous students face particular challenges in meeting their education costs.  Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarships (CECS) have been introduced to provide such students with a scholarship valued at $2,162 in 2008 (indexed annually) per year for up to four years to assist with their education costs.  Higher education providers must give special consideration to Indigenous students when selecting scholarship recipients to ensure a fair proportion of scholarships are awarded to Indigenous students.  CECS are available for students undertaking:

• Undergraduate Courses
• Associate Degree Courses (1025 CECS available)
• Eligible Enabling Courses (700 CECS available, for Indigenous students only)

2. Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarships (CAS)

The cost of accommodation can be a significant burden for students (and/or their parents) from regional and remote areas who need to move away from home to commence higher education, particularly those from low socio-economic status and/or Indigenous backgrounds.  Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarships (CAS) provide selected students from low socio-economic backgrounds from regional and remote areas with a scholarship valued at $4,324 in 2008 (indexed annually) per year for up to four years to assist them with accommodation costs when they move to undertake higher education.  CAS are available for students undertaking:

• Undergraduate Courses
• Associate Degree Courses (975 CAS available)
• Eligible Enabling Courses (210 CAS available, for Indigenous students only)

3. Indigenous Access Scholarships (IAS)

The expansion of the Commonwealth Scholarships Programme in the 2007 Budget included funding for 1,000 Indigenous Access Scholarships (IAS) (valued at $4,080 in 2008) to further improve higher education access for Indigenous Australians. Each provider awarding an IAS to a student must provide the student with an on-going CECS and, where eligible, a CAS.

The key intent of this initiative is to increase the number of Indigenous Australians accessing higher education, particularly those who need to relocate from rural and remote areas to access an eligible higher education enabling course or an undergraduate course.

The Australian Government:

• distributes all CECS and CAS among those higher education providers who offer Commonwealth supported places, and
• issues guidelines to higher education providers on awarding the scholarships to students.

See also: Higher education providers eligible to offer CECS and CAS

Each provider determines its own application and selection processes.

See also: Commonwealth Scholarships: Application, selection & offer


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