Last modified 01/26/2024

The requirements, helps and scholarships to study undergraduate and graduate studies in Australian higher education.

The Australian education has very high standards and a very good quality, so their higher education institutions have established a series of requirements that must be fulfilled so an immigrant can be accepted as a student, who, before, applying, must verify if his or her professional and scholar records and the good command of the English language, will allow him or her to earn a student’s visa.

The quality of the Australian education, due to its condition of a developed country, has very high standards at an international level, and allows foreign students to be able to study from high school to up to graduate studies (masters and PhD’s), going through degrees and a wide range of full time courses destined, mainly, to the English language.

The education quality is guaranteed by the Education Services of Overseas Students Act, which demands permanent controls and verifications, besides, all the educational institutions that offer courses or careers for overseas students must be registered in the agency of the Australian Government, known as the Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students, also known as the CRICOS.

So foreign students can study the courses and careers that the higher education scholar institutions are offering, they must have had fulfilled all the academic requirements, besides of showing sufficiency in the command of the English language. The academic requirements depend on each educative institution, for which, before applying for been admitted in a course or career, you must request the list of requirements that you must fulfill.

The scholarships that exist in the higher education college field for overseas students are destined for graduate studies, because in the undergraduate studies, the foreign students must prove that they have enough funds, which will allow them to follow the career they wish to.

At an undergraduate level, colleges in Australia offer titles known as degrees, which require studies of, at least, six semesters of exclusive dedication, they also give away Honor Degrees for academic achievements, whose duration is the same, of 4 years or more.

Australian colleges offer different kinds of graduate studies, which allow accessing to a list of diverse titles, been the main ones, the Graduate Certificate designed for specific vocations, Graduated Diploma for specific vocation, Master with Course Works, Research Masters, Professional Masters, Research PhD and Professional PhD.

The Graduate Certificate designed for specific vocations has a duration of six months, requiring as a minimum requirement having a degree and it allows the student to acquire or expand his or her skills and knowledge in the field he or she is developing or in a new professional field. This Certificate requires exclusive dedication.

The Graduate Diploma designed for specific vocations has a duration of six months, requiring as a minimum requirement having a degree and it allows the student to acquire or expand his or her skills and knowledge in the field he or she is developing or in a new professional field. This Diploma requires exclusive dedication.

The Master with Course Works lasts from one to two years, requiring as a minimum requisite having a degree, having graduated with honors or having a masters of 1 year, or having experience in research. It allows the student to acquire higher level knowledge in the field he or she might be developing or in a new professional field through the combination of courses, projects and investigations.

The Research Masters lasts from one to two years, requiring as a minimum requirement having a degree, having graduated with honors or having a masters of 1 year, or having experience in research. It allows the student to acquire higher level knowledge in the field he or she might be developing or in a new professional field through the development of courses, whose research part is of 66% and whose final part requires the presentation of a thesis.

The Professional Masters has a duration of one to two years, requiring as a minimum requirement having a title and an important work experience and it allows the student acquiring higher level knowledge in the field he or she might be developing or in a new professional field through the development of a project based in work experience.

The Research PhD requires, as a minimum requirement, having a degree with honors or having a research masters and it allows the student, using as a base the new acquired knowledge, to make an original contribution or an adaptation.

The Professional PhD requires, as a minimum requirement, having a degree with honors or having a master whose content includes research works and courses development. Additionally, the student must prove that he or she has professional experience before he or she started the PhD. The content of the PhD course is conformed of course and research works and it looks for original contributions or adaptations of the obtained knowledge.

Aside from the minimum requirements solicited by each one of these graduate options, we consider pertinent to remember the general requirements that the Australian educational system requires to accept an overseas student, as these are:

The entrance application must be fulfilled; it can be obtained directly through the college’s web site.
Presenting a document that certifies the command of the English language in the IELTS exam.
Presenting previous certificates and / or titles obtained by the student.
Pointing out the course of your preference.
Sometimes, work experience is required.

Al these documents can be presented through e – mail or online. If the documentation is not in English, you must enclose the official English translation. Some colleges, depending on the presentation media, charge a tax.

You must not forget that before sending everything, you must check if you were able to fulfill all the requirements, so the Australian government can give you the student’s visa; in case your application is approved, it would mean that you have good health, you have no criminal records, you have health insurance and you can prove that you are able to maintain yourself as a student without having to work.

The educational institutions, through a letter, point out that the application has been approves and, depending on your country of origin, you can request an evaluation before presenting the application for the visa. After confirming the acceptation via e – mail, you must be sending out the Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (ECOE); without it, the visa process will not begin.

All the colleges and institutions related to the scholar duty, have departments that help the overseas student who is traveling to Australia for the first time, to find accommodations in their own university campus at a determined price, which is much inferior to the ones pointed out in the University Residences, and, at the same time, is much more comfortable than the residential educative establishments, which not only provide accommodations, but also meals. For those who are able to pay for it, apartments in the college campus are also offered.

The inscription dates for graduate studies, in the case of master degrees, are performed in the months of January and February each year, which means that the presentation of applications, in order to be accepted, must be presented the previous year during the last trimester. In the case of the students who are studying a PhD can process a different date for start their studies.

The costs for obtaining a masters degree and a PhD fluctuate between the 11,000 Australian dollars and the 18,000 Australian dollars each year.

Some Australian universities offer distance higher education via online, which will allow an immigrant to study a career before migrating to Australian and obtaining a higher studies title, which will allow him or her to professionally practice in Australian territory. The requirements to be accepted are the same as if the student was studying in Australia.

The principal colleges in Australia are found among the best 200 colleges in the world, due to their educational quality. You can consult what they offer in their web site. Some of these colleges are listed above:

Queensland University of Technology (QUT)    www.international.qut.edu.au
The University of Canberra       www.camberra.edu.au

If you would like to get more information about other Australian universities, you can consult in http://www.universidadesaustralianias.com

The Australian government, through the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA), is developing a series of policies to help the overseas student, who must request for it before their own university. There is also the Australian Research Council (ARC), who delivers scholarships destined to research and whose online site is http://www.arc.gov.au. These scholarships are, mostly, post PhD.

Summing up, the access of immigrant to the Australian higher education is limited to the fulfilment of the requirements that the Australian government points out to give away student visas and the previous conditions that each university establishes to accept an immigrant as an student in any of their programs or courses.