Fees & Scholarships

The University of Melbourne’s research estimates that the cost of living for a student wishing to live within 6km of the Central Business District is on average within a range of $20,000 - $40,000 per annum.

In 2025, JCH fees will be all inclusive, with:

• Furnished room with high speed internet
• Full MU Sport Membership (pool, gym, fitness and wellness programs)
• All Meals (including packed lunches and late meals upon request)
• Utilities including power, water, and washing facilities
• Access to an extensive academic tutorial program, sporting and social activities, mentoring and pastoral care.

At Janet Clarke Hall, residential fees are paid in three instalments, payable in February, May, and August. The receipt of a College scholarship or bursary will reduce total fees payable. Before financial assistance, the 2025 fees will be:

New Undergraduate student: $38,173 (39 weeks), including a one-off $708 enrolment fee on acceptance of a College place, Orientation Week, Melbourne University Sports Membership, Student Club Membership. Refundable deposit: $2,500.

New Graduate Student: $38,173 (44 weeks), including a one-off $708 enrolment fee on acceptance of a College place, Orientation, Melbourne University Sports Membership, Student Club Membership. Refundable deposit: $2,500.

The figures above can be broken down as:

Each year JCH offers the following means-tested Major Scholarships which are awarded annually towards residential fees:

• Indigenous ($15,000) - new and returning Indigenous students. ABSTUDY Residential Cost Options may also be available.
• First Generation ($10,000) - students who are in their family’s first generation to attend uni.
• Women ($5,000-$25,000) -  female-identifying students on the basis of demonstrated financial need, merit and service.
• Elite Athletes (up to $35,000) - any student accepted onto UniMelb’s Elite Athlete Program. See PDF below.
• Music (up to $20,000) - students studying for a Music degree.
• Leadership (up to $10,000) - to new and returning students with particular regard to community service and leadership.
• Regional/Rural ($5,000-$25,000) - students from country Victoria on the basis of demonstrated financial need, academic merit, and service. See also our Narrm Scholars Accommodation Allowance in collaboration with the University of Melbourne.

All Major Scholarship applicants are required to declare any other sources of income / financial assistance they receive, including Youth Allowance & ABSTUDY.

We are proud to collaborate with the University of Melbourne to offer at least $20,000 to eligible Narrm Scholars from regional and remote areas.

To be eligible, you must be:

1. A domestic undergraduate student; AND
2. Awarded a Narrm Scholarship from the University of Melbourne; AND
3. From a regional or remote part of Australia.

And you either:

• Come from a low socioeconomic background or your parents/guardians receive a means tested Commonwealth income support payment; OR
• Are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; OR
• Have experienced difficult circumstances or disability/medical conditions

For 2025 entry, eligible University of Melbourne Narrm Scholars from regional or remote areas who stay at the Residential Colleges may be able to access each of these three combined financial payment benefits per year:

• $6,500 – Living Allowance (University of Melbourne)
• $10,000 – Accommodation Allowance (University of Melbourne)
• At least $10,000 – Accommodation Allowance (Janet Clarke Hall)*
• $3,000 – Relocation allowance in your first year (University of Melbourne)

*Narrm Scholars will be awarded at least $10,000 in residence fee remission for each year they are in residence at JCH as an Undergraduate University of Melbourne student. Means testing will allow us to award additional fee remission to those students from the lowest income backgrounds. 

Major Scholarships help students who may need extra financial assistance to live in residence at JCH. All applications are kept strictly confidential to the College, but may be passed on through the Intercollegiate application process to the College of next preference for their consideration if an applicant is unsuccessful in gaining a place in JCH.

Step 1: Apply for JCH via the Intercollegiate Portal. See our apply page for more information.

Step 2: We will email your our Major Scholarship Form to complete (see preview below). Your parent/s, or guardian/s will need to provide details of family income and expenditure where appropriate. As part of our interview process you will then be invited to discuss your financial support needs in more detail with a member of staff.

Step 3: Outcomes for Major Scholarship applications are generally offered at the same time as residential offers are made. Where possible, this may include early provisional offers.

For more information please email: office@jch.unimelb.edu.au

With over 130 years of rich philanthropic history, life-long community and academic rigour, Janet Clarke Hall has never been just a place to live - it is a holistic institution, a place not only for the mind, but the whole person. In this light, we consciously distance ourselves from any attempt to directly compare our uniquely collegiate and academic offering to the rapid rise of for-profit, private student accommodation providers.

Nevertheless, we understand that many prospective students will be exploring a range of accommodation options, and may be budgeting their own living costs for the first time. With this in mind, below is a rough breakdown of the cost of living in popular student suburbs near the University of Melbourne’s main campus.

 
Note: figures are taken from both Australian Government and University of Melbourne research findings which estimate that the cost of living for a student wishing to live within 6kms of the Central Business District is on average within a range of $20,000 - $40,000 per annum.

This form of accommodation does not include the robust extracurricular, academic, sporting, student leadership and philanthropic programs within JCH’s collegiate community.