Empowering people to help themselves!

Pay It Forward Scholarships is a not-for-profit foundation that helps down-on-their-luck adults. We offer scholarships in courses that can lead to a new career and options in life. Scholarships cover single units of competency through to Certificate IV-level or higher courses, and are delivered via many pathways such as face-to-face or distance / online.

In return, scholarship recipients must agree to help three other people in a significant manner within a year of completing their course. That is, to pay it forward. Indeed, Ms. Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of the book “Pay it Forward” – from which the Kevin Spacey / Helen Hunt movie was made – is the patron of our foundation.

Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of the book “Pay it Forward”

Eligibility

To apply for a scholarship:

• You must be disadvantaged and/or down-on-your-luck and be unable to pay for the desired course yourself. Examples include having suffered a misfortune such as an accident or disaster, or being in receipt of government welfare such as unemployment benefit or disability payments.
• You must be an Australian citizen and at least 18 years of age.
• You must have a plan for how you intend to improve your life that requires vocational training or retraining.
• You must possess the drive and motivation to complete a course of study by providing witnessed examples of your drive and motivation.
• You must possess the necessary language, literacy, and numeracy ability to complete a course of study.
• You must agree:
  – to complete the course of study if your application is successful,
  – to ‘pay it forward’ after the completion of your studies by helping three other people in a significant manner,
  – to provide us with details of how you ‘paid it forward’ and how the course has improved your life, and
  – to abide by our terms and conditions.

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