BCA Scholarship Applications are Now Open!

Funded by the Commonwealth’s Information, Linkages and Capacity-building program and the Jeffrey Blyth Foundation, BCA is offering 5 scholarships for educational expenses up to $5,000 for Semester 2, 2021, and Semesters 1 and 2, 2022.

Applications for the first round of BCA scholarships are open May 17 – June 30, 2021.

Each semester will have a separate application and awarding process, scholarship recipients will be funded for one semester only.

Eligibility criteria

Scholarship recipients must:

  • Be a full member of BCA (membership forms available here), and
  • Provide evidence of enrolment or acceptance letter for a post-secondary educational program that results in a recognised qualification (Internship and Graduate Program applicants may apply while waiting for confirmation of acceptance; with Scholarship awarded on successful application), and
  • Not be a current BCA staff member or Director (board member).

Application assessment

Applications will be assessed by the following criteria:

  • Course of study is a logical trajectory for the student’s skills, interests and goals, and
  • The potential of the scholarship to enhance ability to successfully complete the program of study.

Scholarship recipients will receive:

  • Recognition of personal ambition, promoted and celebrated through organisational channels
  • Alumni network of support
  • BCA support and/or advocacy as appropriate to ensure their study is accessible to them
  • Support for their place of study to further develop its institutional accessibility and inclusion by utilising BCA’s expertise, advice and/or resources
  • Pathway to BCA leadership and/or committee roles
  • Access to BCA programs to support their study and skills development, as well as
  • Financial support for study.

Preparing Your Application

Applications will be received online via this link.

Please note that in order to submit your application you will need to:

  • Upload a signed Authority to Release / Exchange Information form to confirm your enrolment with your place of study,
  • Upload at least one reference, and
  • Prepare answers to open-ended questions.

You can review the application particulars via this document – PLEASE NOTE this document is for preparation work only, we will only accept final applications made via this link.

Need more information?

For more information, please contact Miriam Fathalla at Miriam.Fathalla@bca.org.au or by calling 1800 033 660.

Program Objectives

The BCA Hugh Jeffrey Scholarships Program has two key objectives:

  • To increase the opportunities available to people who are blind or vision impaired to participate in tertiary/further education, by offering financial assistance.
  • To raise the awareness of main-stream education providers of the valuable contributions and unique perspectives people who are blind or vision impaired offer to education and training.

Blind Citizens Australia, (BCA) is strongly committed to ensuring people who are blind or vision impaired have opportunities to develop skills which equip them to contribute to the social, economic and cultural life of Australian communities.