Postgraduate Study

Postgraduate Study

Considering Postgraduate Study?

What is Postgraduate Study?

The term 'postgraduate study' covers the range of courses and research available to students who have completed a first degree at a university. The courses defined as postgraduate are those with the following labels:

• Graduate Certificate
• Graduate Diploma
• Masters (by coursework or research)
• Doctorate
• Professional Doctorate
• Post-Doctoral studies

Pathways to Postgraduate Studies

There are a number of pathways to a postgraduate course. A traditional path has been for academically gifted (credit average or better) students to enrol in an Honours year in their undergraduate degree and, if successful in this course (which usually includes a research topic, project or essay), they then move on to doing a Research Masters (sometimes called an Honours Masters) degree or straight into a PhD.

It is possible, however, to enrol in a university-level Graduate Certificate or Diploma in an academic field on the basis of relevant employment, or in some cases, life experience, and then progress to a higher level postgraduate qualification on the basis of your success in these courses.

In a similar way, enrolment in a Masters by coursework can follow relevant work experience and/or the successful completion of a Graduate Certificate or Diploma in a relevant area or by finishing an undergraduate degree which is deemed by the university you wish to attend as a suitable and adequate preparation.

Issues to Consider

If you are thinking about undertaking postgraduate study, it is important to consider the following questions.

• Why do you want to do postgraduate study? Is there a valid reason or does it just postpone the moment when you have to make an employment decision?
• Will the postgraduate course you are considering be useful to you, either as personal enrichment or as a marketable qualification? Your Careers Service can assist you with this issue, as can a study of job advertisements in the newspapers and on the Internet.
• Are you strong enough academically to undertake a higher degree? Some self-analysis and discussion with academic staff can help here.
• Is the course you're interested in the right one? Talking to people who have done a similar course and to the people supervising it can clarify this.
• Is it better to undertake postgraduate study immediately after your first degree or to wait until you have some work experience? For some higher degrees, particularly Master of Business Administration, work experience may be a prerequisite.

How to Apply

Applications for postgraduate study are processed separately by each institution so you will need to apply individually to each university in which you are interested. Visit the searchable course database on this website for details of postgraduate programs offered by Australian institutions.

Scholarships

A limited number of scholarships (known as Australian Postgraduate Awards) are funded by the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and administered by individual institutions. These scholarships are awarded either with stipend, which means that the scholarship provides a living allowance or as a Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) Exemption scholarship, which only covers the cost of the course. Additionally, a number of universities offer scholarships funded from other sources. Check university websites/libraries or local public libraries for directories of scholarships provided by each university. University websites are directly accessible from the Campus Contacts section of this site.

The JASON (Joint Academic Scholarship Online Network) search engine provides details of postgraduate scholarships in Australia from a database maintained by 33 universities. Visit JASON at www.jason.unimelb.edu.au .

Each year, via the Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarships Scheme, a number of scholarships are offered to international students who wish to undertake a postgraduate research qualification in Australia. Information about the Scheme is available at:

www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/policy_issues_reviews/key_issues/scholarship/default.htm#schol

Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme (PELS)

The Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme (PELS) is an interest-free loans scheme for students enrolled in fee-paying, postgraduate non-research courses. It has similar payment arrangements to those available under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). For further information about PELS, visit www.goingtouni.gov.au .

Australian Postgraduate Study Resources

Calendars, handbooks and websites of Australian universities (available in the reference section of public and university libraries).

Studying Overseas

If you have an interest in studying overseas, you can do it in a number of ways:

• enrol in a foreign university as a full-fee paying student
• enrol in a foreign university using a scholarship awarded for overseas study
• enrol in an Australian university with a student exchange program and spend some time of your degree overseas
• enrol in an Australian university with a travelling fellowship program and spend a short amount of time overseas researching a specific area of interest.

Check the following web page for details of overseas study opportunities:

www.goingtouni.gov.au/Main/Quickfind/StudyOverseas

The following organisations will be able to provide information on postgraduate study in Britain and the USA:

Britain
The British Council
Suite 401
The Edgecliff Centre
203-233 New South Head Road
Edgecliff NSW 2027
Telephone: 016 301 204 (toll free Australia-wide)
Facsimile: (02) 9327 4868
Email:[email protected]
Web:www.britishcouncil.org.au

USA
Australian-American Educational Foundation
Australian-American Fulbright Commission
PO Box 9541
Canberra ACT 2600
Telephone: (02) 6260 4470
Facsimile: (02) 6260 4461
Email:[email protected]
Web:www.fulbright.com.au