The University of Queensland is to offer up to 10 scholarships annually for students from refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds, with the first intake expected to be in Semester 1 next year.
The UQ Refugee and Humanitarian Scholarship will provide a full tuition fee waiver and an $8,000 annual living stipend for students to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate coursework studies.
Vice-Chancellor and President of UQ, Professor Deborah Terry said removing financial barriers for refugees to study at university benefitted all aspects of Australian society.
“Access to education is critical to the settlement and success of refugees and asylum seekers in our community – and their success is our country’s success,” Professor Terry said.
“Students from refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds enrich our campuses, providing diverse perspectives in our classrooms and strengthening the fabric of Australian culture, business and society.”
Professor Terry said universities should and could do more to lower the barriers that refugees face in accessing higher education.
“Refugees are some of the most vulnerable people in our community and have faced considerable hardships,” she said.
“According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, only three per cent of refugees across the world are able to participate in higher education and that number is unacceptably low.
“UQ’s Refugee and Humanitarian Scholarship demonstrates our University’s commitment to champion diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity,” Professor Terry said.
She said the scholarship was available to students residing in Australia who were on a Bridging Visa E, Temporary Protection Visa or a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa.
Applications are open until 22 January 2021 and details on how to apply on the UQ website at this PS News link.
