RMIT Scholarships for International Students 2026

RMIT University in Melbourne funds international students at a scale few Australian universities match: in 2025, RMIT awarded 4,616 scholarships to international students, and 3,750 of them were a single award — the Future Leaders Scholarship, a 20% tuition fee reduction for students from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan starting a Bachelor or Master by coursework program from 2026 intakes onwards. If you are from South Asia — the core audience for this guide — that one award is the centre of RMIT’s offer to you, and it requires no separate scholarship application at all. Around it sits a second, completely different system for research students, where RMIT and Australian Government stipend scholarships paid AUD 36,245 per year in the 2026 round, packaged with full international tuition fee scholarships.

This guide separates those two systems cleanly, because confusing them is the most common RMIT mistake. It also handles one naming trap honestly: you will see “RMIT International Tuition Fee Scholarship” quoted on third-party sites as if it were a single coursework discount with a fixed percentage. On RMIT’s official Melbourne pages, tuition fee scholarships under that naming belong primarily to the research system (the RTP International Tuition Fee Offset Scholarship and the RMIT Research International Tuition Fee Scholarship, which accompany research stipends), while coursework tuition support is delivered through named awards such as Future Leaders and country- or college-specific scholarships that vary by intake. Where a value could not be verified on an official RMIT page for 2026, this guide says so and points you to RMIT’s scholarship search rather than inventing a number.

Set this article alongside our RMIT University profile, the StudyGraduate scholarships directory and our national guide to scholarships in Australia as you compare Melbourne against Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

RMIT Scholarships at a Glance

The Future Leaders Scholarship in Detail

RMIT’s official page introduces the award directly: it “provides students from India and the subcontinent with a 20% tuition fee reduction for eligible Bachelor and Masters programs that have received an offer from 2026.” The full eligibility frame is:

• You must be a citizen of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal or Pakistan (dual citizens holding one of these passports qualify);
• You must be an international student holding a valid student visa, or planning to apply for one before your program commences;
• You must hold an offer letter to commence from 2026 intakes onwards in a Bachelor degree or a Master by coursework at RMIT in Melbourne;
• You must not be an existing student commencing another program within the same study level.

The value is a 20% tuition fee reduction for the duration of the eligible program as outlined in your offer letter — not a one-year teaser. There is no separate scholarship application: you apply to study at RMIT, and if you are eligible, the scholarship details are set out in your offer letter. Students with an RMIT English packaged offer can receive the scholarship once they meet the English level required for the eligible degree, and students who complete an RMIT pathway program receive it when they articulate into the eligible Bachelor or Master program. Changing to a different eligible program in a later semester does not automatically kill the award — under the published terms, the scholarship continues to apply to the new program — but one condition is enforced: your academic progress is reviewed when Semester Two results are released each year, and if you do not maintain satisfactory progress, the scholarship is not applied to the next calendar year and is cancelled. Recipients also agree to participate in event coordination for RMIT’s Open Day under the terms and conditions — a small, real obligation worth knowing about before you arrive.

What is 20% worth? Use your own offer’s fees for the real figure, but as an illustration only: on a program charging AUD 40,000 per year, a 20% reduction saves AUD 8,000 per year — AUD 16,000 over a two-year master’s, AUD 24,000–32,000 over a three- or four-year bachelor’s degree. That is a material sum, though it leaves tuition’s remaining 80%, plus Melbourne living costs, OSHC and visa costs, firmly in your own budget.

Who is not covered by Future Leaders

Students from outside the six listed countries — including Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam and China — are not eligible for Future Leaders, however strong their grades. RMIT’s answer for those students is its broader international scholarship portfolio: country-specific, college-specific and partner awards that open and close by intake. The honest advice is to use RMIT’s official international scholarships search filtered by your citizenship and program, and to treat any third-party page quoting you a universal “RMIT scholarship percentage” with suspicion — outside Future Leaders and the research system, RMIT simply does not work that way.

STEM, Health and College Awards

RMIT’s identity is applied and industry-facing — engineering, computing, design, health and business taught in the centre of Melbourne — and its colleges run their own scholarship lines for commencing and continuing students, including awards targeted at STEM and health disciplines and at women in STEM. These awards are real but fragmented: values, eligibility and opening windows differ by college, program and intake, and some are one-off prizes rather than duration-of-degree discounts. No single official 2026 percentage covers them, so this guide does not attach one. The correct procedure is: (1) identify your college and program, (2) search RMIT’s scholarships portal for that program and your citizenship, (3) note each award’s own closing date — college awards frequently close earlier than admission deadlines. If a STEM or health award is part of your decision between universities, get its name, value and terms from the official page in writing before you rely on it.

Research Scholarships: RSS, RRSS and Tuition Fee Scholarships

RMIT’s research funding is built around two stipend scholarships that pay the same amount and are considered together — when you apply through an RMIT scholarship round, you are automatically considered for every research scholarship you are eligible for:

• RTP Stipend Scholarship (RSS) — funded by the Australian Government through the Research Training Program (RTP).
• RMIT Research Stipend Scholarship (RRSS) — funded by RMIT University itself.

RMIT’s official research stipend page states the 2026-round benefits plainly (and notes that the 2027 round’s information is released on the same basis): a stipend of AUD 36,245 per annum, pro rata for full-time study, indexed annually; international recipients are also awarded an RTP International Tuition Fee Offset Scholarship (RIFOS) or an RMIT Research International Tuition Fee Scholarship (RRITFS) — this is where “international tuition fee scholarship” genuinely lives at RMIT, as the tuition half of the research package; a relocation allowance of up to AUD 515 per adult and AUD 255 per child to a maximum of AUD 1,540; and paid sick, maternity and parenting leave within the scholarship terms. The standard duration is three and a half years full-time for a PhD and two years for a research master’s, with the scholarship period reduced by any prior study toward a research degree at the same level.

For context, the national RTP base stipend rate is AUD 34,315 in 2026 (AUD 35,550 in 2027) — RMIT’s 2026 figure of AUD 36,245 sits above the base rate, which is common among large research universities. Applications for scholarships commencing in 2027 were open at the time of writing, with RMIT emphasising two things: the process is highly competitive, and every applicant must provide evidence that an RMIT academic has agreed to supervise the research when submitting their expression of interest. No supervisor, no consideration — start those conversations months ahead, and submit your expression of interest as early in the round as you can.

Eligibility Summary

Both routes also require the ordinary foundations: RMIT course entry standards including English proficiency, and — for the visa — the Genuine Student requirement and financial capacity evidence. A 20% coursework discount reduces your total fees; it does not reduce the living-cost evidence the Department of Home Affairs expects, and research stipends are assessed under their own rules. Plan the visa file independently of the scholarship file.

How to Apply, Step by Step

Coursework (Future Leaders)

1. Choose an eligible program — a Bachelor degree or Master by coursework at RMIT Melbourne — using the RMIT profile and RMIT’s course pages.
2. Check your citizenship eligibility for Future Leaders (the six South Asian countries). If you are from elsewhere, search RMIT’s international scholarships for your country before applying.
3. Apply to study at RMIT as an international student, following RMIT’s step-by-step international application guide.
4. Read your offer letter. If you are eligible, the Future Leaders Scholarship and its 20% reduction are outlined in the letter. If you expected it and it is absent, query it before accepting — citizenship evidence and program eligibility are the usual causes.
5. Accept your offer, pay the deposit, receive your CoE, arrange OSHC and lodge your visa application.
6. After enrolment, protect the award: maintain satisfactory academic progress — it is formally reviewed after Semester Two results each year.

Research (RSS / RRSS)

1. Find a research area and a supervisor. Identify RMIT academics working in your field and contact them with a focused proposal outline and your CV — well before any round deadline.
2. Secure written supervisor agreement; you must evidence it in your expression of interest.
3. Submit your expression of interest and scholarship application within the round for your intended commencement year (2027-round applications were open at the time of writing).
4. Complete the full application if your expression of interest is approved — transcripts, proposal, CV, referees and English evidence.
5. On success, your offer will specify the stipend, the accompanying tuition fee scholarship (RIFOS or RRITFS), the relocation allowance and the duration.

Official starting points: RMIT’s Future Leaders Scholarship page and its Research Stipend Scholarships page on rmit.edu.au.

Required Documents

• Passport — for Future Leaders, proving citizenship of one of the six eligible countries.
• Academic transcripts and completion certificates for prior qualifications, with certified English translations where needed and the grading scale.
• English proficiency results meeting your program’s requirement (or an RMIT English packaged offer).
• Program-specific documents where RMIT requires them (portfolios for design programs, CVs and statements for some postgraduate programs).
• For research: expression of interest with supervisor agreement evidence, research proposal, CV including publications, transcripts, and referee reports.
• Visa stage: CoE, OSHC, financial capacity evidence and Genuine Student statements.

Deadlines and Timeline

How to Improve Your Chances

For Future Leaders, “chances” work differently from a competitive scholarship: if you meet the citizenship, visa and offer conditions for an eligible program, the award follows. Your strategy is therefore about not fumbling the basics — apply for an eligible degree level (Bachelor or Master by coursework, not a research degree or a same-level second program as an existing student), keep your passport and citizenship evidence unambiguous, and confirm the scholarship appears in your offer letter before you pay anything. The second half of the strategy is retention: the Semester Two progress review means the scholarship is earned again every year. Students who treat the first year casually have lost the 20% for the remaining years — the single most expensive academic mistake available to an RMIT coursework student.

For research scholarships, competition is real and ranking is merit-based. RMIT and round assessors weigh: the strength of your qualifying results (high-distinction-level performance in the final years carries the most weight), the quality and feasibility of your proposal, evidence of research capability — a strong thesis, publications, conference work, relevant professional research experience — referee reports, and the fit between your project, your supervisor and RMIT’s research priorities. The supervisor relationship is the multiplier: an engaged supervisor who knows the round, the field and your work will help you frame a proposal that reads as fundable. Contact supervisors three to six months before the round closes, personalise every approach (mass-mailed generic emails are deleted), and submit your expression of interest early — RMIT itself advises prospective applicants not to delay, because competition for places in some projects is intense.

Whichever route you take, compare the full picture before deciding: the scholarships directory and Australia scholarships guide let you set RMIT’s certain 20% (for eligible South Asian coursework students) against percentage lotteries elsewhere — a guaranteed 20% in hand is frequently worth more than a competitive 50% you have a modest chance of winning.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Applying for Future Leaders from an ineligible country. The six-country list is fixed: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan. No exceptions are published — students from other countries should use RMIT’s country-filtered scholarship search instead.
• Hunting for a separate Future Leaders application form. There isn’t one. If a website offers to “apply for the Future Leaders Scholarship” through its own portal, it is not RMIT.
• Quoting a generic “RMIT International Tuition Fee Scholarship” percentage for coursework. That naming belongs to the research tuition scholarships (RIFOS/RRITFS). Coursework support comes through named awards with their own values — verify each on rmit.edu.au.
• Letting grades slip after Semester Two. Future Leaders is reviewed annually on satisfactory progress and cancelled for the next year if you fall short.
• Submitting a research expression of interest without a supervisor. RMIT requires evidence of supervisor agreement at EOI stage. Without it, even an outstanding record is not considered.
• Holding another tuition scholarship simultaneously. Future Leaders applicants should not be in receipt of another scholarship covering tuition fees. Declare your funding position honestly.

Living in Melbourne as an RMIT Student

RMIT’s City campus is woven into Melbourne’s CBD — there is no walled campus to hide in, which most students experience as the point: libraries, studios, part-time jobs, galleries and the city’s famous laneway food culture are all within the same few streets. Melbourne living costs sit between Sydney (higher) and Adelaide/Perth (lower), with share housing in inner suburbs such as Brunswick, Carlton and Footscray the standard student strategy. Budget for the full visa financial-capacity figure, treat part-time work within visa limits as supplementary income only, and remember that a 20% tuition saving compounds quietly: by graduation, the Future Leaders student has saved roughly the cost of a full semester’s tuition compared with paying list price — money that, in Melbourne, covers a very large share of a year’s rent in a shared house.

English Pathway and Foundation Routes Into RMIT

Two feeder routes deserve mention because RMIT’s own terms connect them to scholarship outcomes. First, English: students holding an RMIT English packaged offer — university English study bundled before the degree — remain eligible for the Future Leaders Scholarship once they reach the English level their eligible Bachelor or Master program requires, so needing an English package does not forfeit the 20% reduction. Second, pathways: students who complete an RMIT pathway program and articulate into an eligible degree receive Future Leaders at the point of articulation, which means the discount applies to the degree years even if it did not apply to the pathway program itself. The mirror-image warning applies too: students transferring into RMIT Bachelor of Business programs through certain partner-institution arrangements are excluded from Future Leaders under published terms, and students already studying at RMIT who switch to another program at the same level are outside the “commencing” definition. If your route into RMIT is anything other than a direct fresh application — a transfer, a pathway, a packaged English offer — confirm in writing, before you enrol, exactly when and whether the 20% attaches to your enrolment. Five minutes of written confirmation at that stage is worth more than any scholarship article, including this one.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much is the RMIT Future Leaders Scholarship worth?

A 20% tuition fee reduction for the duration of your eligible Bachelor or Master by coursework program, as outlined in your offer letter — for students commencing from 2026 intakes onwards.

2. I am from Bangladesh. Am I eligible for Future Leaders?

Yes — Bangladesh is one of the six eligible countries, alongside India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. You also need to be an international student with (or applying for) a student visa and hold an offer for an eligible RMIT Bachelor or Master by coursework program.

3. Do I need to apply separately for the Future Leaders Scholarship?

No. Apply to study at RMIT; if you are eligible, the scholarship is detailed in your offer letter. There is no separate RMIT scholarship form for this award.

4. Is there an RMIT International Tuition Fee Scholarship for coursework students?

Not as a single generic award on RMIT’s official Melbourne pages. “Tuition fee scholarships” under that naming (RIFOS and RRITFS) are the tuition component of research packages. Coursework tuition support comes through named awards such as Future Leaders and college/country scholarships — check each one’s own value and terms on rmit.edu.au.

5. What stipend do RMIT research scholarships pay?

In the 2026 round, both the RTP Stipend Scholarship (RSS) and the RMIT Research Stipend Scholarship (RRSS) pay AUD 36,245 per year (pro rata, indexed annually), with international recipients also receiving a tuition fee scholarship, a relocation allowance of up to AUD 1,540, and paid leave provisions under the terms.

6. How long do RMIT research scholarships last?

Three and a half years full-time for a PhD and two years for a research master’s, reduced by any prior study toward a research degree at the same level.

7. Can I lose the Future Leaders Scholarship?

Yes. Your progress is reviewed after Semester Two results each year; if you do not maintain satisfactory academic progress, the scholarship is not applied to the next calendar year and is cancelled. You must also not hold another scholarship covering tuition fees.

8. I am not from South Asia. What scholarships can I get at RMIT?

RMIT runs country-specific, college (including STEM and health) and partner awards that vary by intake, plus the fully competitive research scholarships open to all nationalities. Use RMIT’s official scholarships search filtered by your citizenship and program — and be wary of any site quoting one universal RMIT percentage for everyone.

Sources & Verification

• RMIT University — Future Leaders Scholarship (20% tuition reduction; six eligible countries; offers from 2026; no separate application; progress-review and other terms; 2025 award counts — verified October 2026).
• RMIT University — Research Stipend Scholarships (RSS/RRSS 2026 benefits: AUD 36,245 stipend, RIFOS/RRITFS tuition scholarships, relocation allowance up to AUD 1,540, durations, supervisor-evidence requirement — verified October 2026).
• Australian Government Research Training Program — base stipend rates AUD 34,315 (2026) and AUD 35,550 (2027), shown for comparison with RMIT’s published 2026 rate.

Disclaimer: Scholarship values, eligible programs and round dates change between intakes. The details above reflect RMIT’s official pages at the time of writing (October 2026); always confirm deadlines and amounts on the official RMIT website before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency, and cannot guarantee admission, scholarship selection, or visa approval.