If your child is heading to university, a scholarship could make the whole journey easier. And it may be more within reach than you'd expect. We award around $2.5 million in scholarships every year, and plenty of them go to students who aren't topping the class.

Scholarships aren't just for top students 

It's a common assumption that scholarships are a reward for high marks alone. Some are. But we award scholarships for a whole range of reasons, including:

• academic achievement
• living in a regional or remote area
• financial or personal hardship
• studying at TAFE
• being an Indigenous or international student

So even if your child isn't chasing an ATAR in the 90s, it's worth a look. Different scholarships reward different things, and many recognise the real-life hurdles that can make university harder to reach.

What a scholarship can help with

Make no mistake, high achievers have an array of options for scholarships. However, there are other programs that recognise the difficulty some students face when attending uni, with scholarships available to support them in a variety of ways. These include:

• accommodation
• living expenses
• childcare
• transportation
• university expenses (e.g., textbooks)

Let’s take a closer look at some of the scholarships on offer.

If your child is a high achiever

The Westpac Young Technologists Scholarship is worth up to $20,000 and goes to seven students a year studying in:

• Creative Media and Communication
• Engineering
• Science
• Information Technology

It's more than money. Scholars also gain access to internships and mentoring and become lifelong members of the Westpac Scholars Network. For a student building a career in tech, those connections can matter as much as the funding.

If you live in a regional or remote area

Distance shouldn't decide whether your child can study. Two scholarships are built around exactly that.

The George Alexander Foundation Scholarship helps young people from rural and remote Australia get past the barriers that can stand in the way of university. It's worth $30,000 and goes to seven students in any undergraduate degree. An ATAR of 80 or above is required, and the scholarship is for accommodation and living expenses in Perth. We encourage recipients to consider living on campus at Murdoch University Village.

The Tertiary Access Payment is a one-off, means-tested payment of up to $5,000, shared among 100 undergraduate students across any discipline. It's for students living in outer-regional or remote areas, meaning more than 90 minutes one way by public transport to us. To be eligible, your child needs to be enrolled full time, and your household (parent or guardian) combined income needs to be under $250,000.

If money or circumstances are tight

The Ragdoll Scholarship is for students facing personal or financial hardship. It's worth up to $20,000 and supports ten students starting an undergraduate degree in:

• Business
• Law and Criminology
• Engineering
• Health
• Science
• Teaching
• Technology

Funded by donations, it goes to Australian citizens, permanent residents, or New Zealand citizens, and is designed to take the financial pressure off so students can focus on their studies. You can read how the Ragdoll Scholarship has helped a real Murdoch University student stay on course for the classroom.

How to find the right scholarship