Elite Athlete Scholarship

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible for this scholarship you must be:

1. studying an undergraduate or postgraduate degree as an active student;
2. enrolled in a Charles Sturt University course as a Commonwealth supported student in a Commonwealth supported place. Full fee-paying students are not eligible;
3. a commencing or continuing student. Continuing students must have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 or higher (pass grade average);
4. an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen, a permanent Australian resident or a student with an Australian permanent visa;
5. able to demonstrate financial circumstances associated with sporting or performing representation costs (eg receipts or invoices);
6. able to provided a reference from your Sporting Association or the CSU Elite Athlete Program Coordinator
7. able to demonstrate proven sporting or performing representation at state, national or international level in 2024 (eg letterhead from a Coach or Manager to verify the level you are competing at).
8. able to provide (if applicable) payslips and/or sponsorship details from sporting association/team
9. a member of the Charles Sturt University Elite and Performer program, or be in the process of becoming a member

How to apply to the Elite Athlete Program

Preference given to those able to provide financial hardship.

To continue to be eligible for this scholarship, you must, by the census date of each session continue to:

• meet the initial eligibility criteria, and
• maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 or higher.

Guidelines

1. The Charles Sturt University Elite Athlete and Performer Scholarship will provide support to elite athletes or performers to meet their training or competition requirements. The scholarship is designed to cover personal out of pocket expenses for training or competition requirements.
2. The scholarship is valued at $1,500 and is paid in one payments after the HECS-HELP census date in the second session.
3. The scholarship is payable by EFT to the personal bank account that you have registered with Charles Sturt University. Payment is made within 14 days of census date to successful recipients meeting the eligibility criteria
4. You can register bank details with Charles Sturt University on the Student Administration website by going to Personal Details to enter or change bank details.
5. The Scholarships Office will be responsible for the assessment, allocation and administration of this scholarship.
6. The University reserves the right to recoup scholarship payments if your circumstances change and you no longer meet the eligibility criteria.
7. To be eligible for this scholarship, applicants must have met all of the eligibility criteria by the closing date. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. This scholarship cannot be deferred.
8. The University receives a high volume of applications for scholarships; meeting the eligibility criteria may not guarantee applicants a scholarship offer.
9. Financial Need Documentation:

Provide one of the following:

Option 1: Provide one of the following:

• A recent (within the last 45 days) Centrelink Income Statement with an eligible means tested benefit. A list of eligible benefits can be found further down the guidelines page.
  Guidance on what this should look like can be found here
  Directions to obtain this document can be found here
• A valid Healthcare card (not medicare card)A valid Pensioner card

OR

Option 2: Provide one of the following in conjunction with the Supporting financial declaration. If you are under 22 years of age, you are required to supply the below for your parents/guardians as well. If you are living with a partner you are required to supply the below for your partner as well;

• 3 x most recent payslips showing Year-to-Date (YTD) earnings.
• 2 x most recent Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Notice of assessment.

Terms and Conditions

By accepting the scholarship offer you agree to:

1. fulfil all requirements as set out in these guidelines;
2. consent to Charles Sturt University accessing your student records for the purposes of assessing and administering the scholarship;
3. provide any change of individual circumstances in writing to the Scholarships Office scholarships@csu.edu.au;
4. provide information and participate in surveys for promotional purposes and review of this scholarship;
5. accept the terms and conditions of this scholarship.

The University reserves the right to undertake audits of individual student’s records to ensure adherence to these guidelines.

Policy

A scholarship recipient who undertakes an approved program of study overseas with another University as a cross-institutional student will be considered for payment of this scholarship during this period. This is conditional on the cross-institutional study being a requirement of the course and all other eligibility criteria being met.

A scholarship recipient should be aware that payments may be regarded as income by Centrelink and/or ATO it is the responsibility of the recipient to seek independent advice with respect to implications resulting from receiving this scholarship.

1. Full-time students – scholarships are considered to be tax-exempt income for a student who is studying full time at university.
2. Part-time students – generally, scholarship funding provided to part-time students, regardless of their employment status, is not considered to be tax-exempt income. However, as long as the scholarship funding is used for non-tax-deductible expenses it may be classified as exempt income.

Charles Sturt University will treat any information provided by the applicant within the terms of relevant privacy legislation. See Charles Sturt privacy policy for further information

Due to privacy laws, any discussion of a scholarship application or recipient will only take place with the scholarship applicant/recipient.

The information collected will be used by authorised University staff to assess eligibility and administer the scholarship program. The information may also be used for assessment purposes for other scholarships, scholarships and equity programs across the University. Recipient names and email addresses may be made available to departments within the University for marketing and research purposes. No details will be used externally for any reason without the recipient’s consent. Students should be aware that they provide information of their own free will.

Personal and health information provided by the applicant will not be made available to any person within the University or external organisation for any other purpose without the applicant’s consent, except where it may be a legal requirement of the University to provide information.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Apply

Forms and Documents

Download and save any forms you require for your application.

• Statutory Declaration
• Submit a reference from your sporting association.
• Submit proof of proven sporting representation at a state, national, international within the last 12 months.
• Demonstrate financial need associated with sporting and representation costs.
• Tell us about the costs you incur for your sporting or performance representation.

Application

• Complete an online application form.
• Applications will be assessed in accordance with the eligibility criteria and supporting documentation.
• Applications with incorrect or no supporting documentation will be deemed ineligible.
• You may be assessed as eligible but not receive an offer due to quota restrictions.
• There are no interviews required.

Outcome

• All applicants will be informed in writing of the outcome of their application.

Acceptance

• Successful applicants are required to accept their scholarship offer.
• Offers not accepted by the offer expiry date will be withdrawn.