Remote or regional location, family commitments or work obligations shouldn’t impact your ability to access university. At the National Indigenous Knowledges Education Research and Innovation (NIKERI) Institute our Community Based Delivery approach supports students to access on campus study blocks at Deakin University without having to relocate, and we provide a variety of scholarships to ensure you can access and succeed at university.
The Indigenous Student Success Program (ISSP) is offered by the Commonwealth to provide students additional educational financial support, so you can focus on achieving academic success. The scholarships assist with education costs for regional and remote students who may be financially disadvantaged, enrolled and studying with up to $4000 per year for costs to enable studies including laptops, textbooks and equipment.
Scholarships work to remove financial barriers that may impact a student’s ability to access and succeed at university. Many scholarships are awarded based on area of study or academic performance, while other criteria include regional, remote or very remote location and financial or personal hardship or change situation to circumstance.
NIKERI Institute Bachelor of Nursing student Shanese Friel has utilised a number of scholarships to support her with the additional and sometimes unexpected costs of study. “I usually use my scholarships with textbooks, nursing equipment and sudden [nursing] placement costs when I have to travel to remote or regional location,” she said. “I’ve also used them for extra curricula activities like conferences that will add an advantage to my degree.”
Fellow nursing student, Alahna Riodran says her scholarship relieved the financial stress that can occur with juggling study and life commitments. “My scholarship helped me the most in relieving the pressure during my placements. It allowed me to be fully focused on placement and not have to work during that time”, she said.
Outside of the ISSP supports, NIKERII also offer the Dr (Aunty) Mary Atkinson Scholarship, named after one of the key influences in establishing the institute, is automatically awarded to the top performing First Nations students looking to study education and nursing at NIKERI Institute. The scholarship covers 100% of tuition fees for the duration of the course.
The Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Scholarship aims to assist Aboriginal people working in Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing teams to complete further education in clinical and therapeutic mental health qualifications to build Victoria’s Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing workforce. The scholarship is supported by Victorian Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and the Department of Health and can cover up to 100% of tuition fees.
There are many more scholarships and financial supports available to make the decision to study a stress-free process. NIKERI Institute has a dedicated student services team to support application enquiries and can assist in matching students with the scholarships they are eligible for.