By Sarah McCrea
Amid rising dissent from students around scholarship inequity at the ANU, the University has launched a new scholarship program: the ANU Vice-Chancellor Scholars Program.
Providing financial support, accommodation assistance, and relocation support, the program provides places for both undergraduate and postgraduate students starting from Semester 1 2027. But with open questions about the specifics of the application and selection process, how the ANU plans to translate these aims into results is yet to be seen.
As part of the ANU by 2030 University Strategy, the ANU Vice-Chancellor Scholars Program, beginning in Semester 1 2027, will support around 150 undergraduate students with up to $65,000 of financial assistance over the course of their studies. This is in addition to “up to $1,500 in relocation and transition assistance”.
Certain undergraduate Vice-Chancellor Scholars will receive “either fully funded on-campus accommodation for up to four years or a guarantee of suitable accommodation”. However, this is not a blanket benefit of the program, stated to be dependent on “individual circumstances”.
“For some students, the cost of university, relocating to Canberra, securing accommodation or simply knowing that support will be available can determine whether ANU feels possible,” ANU Interim Vice-Chancellor Rebekah Brown said.
“The Vice-Chancellor Scholars Program is about removing those barriers and ensuring students with the capability to succeed at ANU have the opportunity to do so.”
However, the positive gains of the program are not unconditional. Undergraduate students in the program are required to maintain a full-time load during the course of their studies, otherwise subject to written approval from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education). Those completing a Bachelor’s must maintain a GPA of at least 4.0 each Semester. If this GPA is not met, a formal warning is used, and if the same occurs next Semester “the Award [Scholarship] may be suspended or terminated”.
The program could be seen as representing a step in the right direction.
Just this year, the ANU faced intense criticism as it was reported that the Tuckwell Scholars program is skewed towards recipients of higher socioeconomic status.
The selection basis for the Vice-Chancellor Scholars Program is broad, ranging from socioeconomic background, to regional and remote residence, to refugee or humanitarian status, and more. Information on the scholarship states “Selection is made based on demonstrated educational disadvantage, informed by the University’s Educational Access Scheme (EAS) assessment framework”.
For domestic school leavers (and other eligible prospective students) wishing to apply for the program, the process is, in short: to just apply to the ANU as usual. The ANU notes “all eligible applicants that receive an offer of admission to an ANU Program will be automatically considered [for the Scholarship] if they submit their ANU application by the relevant Deadline”. This can be through an early entry program or through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC).
Equitable admissions at the ANU could be argued as lacking before. The means by which students are considered through these pre-existing channels leads to an open question of how accurately and appropriately the scholarship’s selection basis of “demonstrated educational disadvantage” can be assessed to advance the equitable admissions aims of the university.
As part of the ANU’s early offer round, the first offers to future undergraduate students as a part of this program will be made on 3 September 2026.
Up to 75 postgraduate coursework students are also eligible for the program. This stream of the program offers postgraduate Vice-Chancellor Scholars “a Commonwealth Supported Place, a $1,500 transition or relocation bursary and access to the Program’s coordinated student support”.
Has scholarship equity at the ANU taken a step forward? Has the University taken adequate steps to allow for all students to access a fair tertiary education? We’ll have to see.
More to come.
Graphics by Anushkaa Ahuja
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