Students who want the chance to learn at one of Australia’s best universities should absolutely apply to the University of Monash. Located in the beautiful city of Melbourne with satellite learning centres scattered across the world, international students can get an education at Monash that they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.

There are currently over 85,000 students enrolled on a wide range of courses at Monash, and at least 29,000 of these students are international. Support services for international students are strong, job prospects are good after graduation, numerous scholarships are available to help cover funding and fees are available and teaching standards at the university are very high.

Away from the campus, the exciting city of Melbourne and the relaxing nearby beaches are easy to reach. This means students have the freedom to be as relaxed or as busy as they want to be each day, enjoying all the best parts of Australian life between talks with tutors and fascinating lectures.

Academically, Monash is known across the globe for its scientific research, especially in the expert field of pharmacology, where it ranks number one. From high-tech laboratories to modern lecture theatres and easy-to-use digital archives, there’s nothing students can’t have access to at Monash.

Monash is proud to be making a positive contribution to Melbourne, and it’s looking to admit students who would also love to make a positive contribution, especially in areas like sustainability and eco-conscious research and development.

Find out more about studying at Monash:

Teaching quality

Entry requirements

Scholarships & funding

University structure

Facilities

Student support

Graduate outcomes

Teaching Quality

The teaching quality at Monash University is respected in Australia and across the rest of the world. When it comes to factors like resources, ethos and impact, it ranks as one of the highest-achieving Australian institutions and has many outstanding research areas. Monash’s position in the QS World University Rankings for 2023 is 57, and its Academic Ranking of World Universities 2021 was 80.

With a teaching score of 57.9 per cent, Monash provides students with all they need to do well in their programmes of study. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1, so Monash tutors and lecturers can be sure that all students get enough attention, focus and targeted teaching that they need. This focus on high-quality teaching combines well with a drive to increase sustainability through innovative working practices.

Monash is Australia’s best performing institute in the QS World University Rankings by subject for 2022 and ranks as the best in the world for pharmacy and pharmacology subjects. It has also been at the centre of Australia’s COVID-19 research and response development, including the game-changing Melbourne Experiment, which measured the impact of lockdown on urban environments.

Monash staff have received accolades like the prestigious Jeff Northfield Memorial Award for Excellence in Teacher Research, and the university has recently been recognised with 10 other winners across the globe by the Algorand Centres of Excellence Program. Monash is now sharing a AUD 5,000,000 funding prize for blockchain and cryptocurrency research.

The emphasis on quality teaching at Monash is spread across all its departments and faculties, meaning that students can expect the same level of knowledge and depth in all subjects. Students who care about their work deserve lecturers who are invested too, and the lecturers at Monash absolutely are.

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements at Monash vary between courses, so the university provides accessible pages for each subject that explain the required entry score. General minimum university entry requirements also apply. Applicants must have completed a minimum of an Australian Year 12 qualification (or equivalent). In the case that English isn’t their first language/they’re an international student, applicants must prove they can speak English to a certain standard (more information below).

International undergraduate students must have one or more Australian or global qualifications (an International Baccalaureate diploma with a score to an ATAR of 70 or above, for example) to meet university requirements. They might also be eligible if they completed an SAT in English in the final year of secondary school/their equivalent.

International postgraduate students must share proof that they’ve completed the required university qualifications/qualification for the graduate course they want to study. The university requires scored or graded results and won’t accept students who only provide pass/fail results.

Potential international students at either application level can use the study credit and admissions eligibility search function to get to know the requirements for entry to all courses and programmes that might appeal.

English Score Required

The English score requirements for Monash vary depending on whether the student is applying from an English-speaking background or non-English-speaking background. They may also vary depending on which course the student is applying for. International students applying from an English-speaking background must supply one of the following pieces of evidence:

• A score of 25 in units three and four of VCE English, VCE Literature or VCE English Language
• A score of 20 in units three and four of VCE English as an additional language (EAL)
• An equivalent result in an equivalent English subject in a senior secondary qualification

International students from a non-English-speaking background must show a good enough level of English language understanding, as English is the standard language of teaching in Australia and at Monash University. The minimum IELTS score required for admission to Monash is an overall band of 6.5, with a minimum score of 6.0 in each individual band.

Other tests also meet Monash’s minimum English language requirements, including paper-based (minimum score 79, with a written English level of 4.5) and internet-based (minimum scores for each part — reading 13, listening 12, writing 21, speaking 18) TOEFL qualifications.

Admission

International students hoping to enjoy student admission to the university of Monash must apply directly via the university. The average yearly tuition fee for an undergraduate international student is AUD 43,820 (or AUD 39,240 for postgraduate international students).

According to the university admission guidelines for international students, there is a AUD 100 application fee. There are also various bits of information that international students must provide to become eligible for admission consideration, including:

• The code for their desired course
• The name of their desired course
• The course start date
• The campus at which they’ll be studying/applying for accommodation
• All the documents required for enrolment in their desired course, including test results, certificates and any related employment information (official translation of any documents into English might be needed, for which costs will need to be covered individually)
• A copy of their passport
• Evidence of meeting Monash’s English language requirements

All international students in Australia must also apply for a student visa. These allow for students to stay and study in Australia for up to five years and are in line with their course’s enrolment time. They cost AUD 650 unless the student is exempt from having to pay.

Scholarships & Funding

For international students, studying in Australia can be expensive. Monash university is proud of its global outlook and wants to encourage and welcome international students by offering them various scholarships, bursaries, and grants to help them pay their fees.

Monash currently offers 12 scholarships to international students. The Research Training Program (RTP) stipend is available to new and current students, both domestic and international. It covers the cost of course tuition fees as well as a single Overseas Health Student Cover policy for any international students.

This will particularly benefit international students who might be coming to Australia from less wealthy backgrounds. In order to be eligible, international students must meet Monash’s competitive scholarship process requirements and the university's English language requirements.

There are also university scholarships at Monash that reward dedication and consistency in a student’s activities. For example, the MRS Resident Advisor Scholarship is an accommodation and merit-based grant. Students must maintain certain standards to remain eligible for it (enrolled full-time, achieving a minimum pass grade average of 50 per cent, appointed as a Resident Advisor by MRS), and it covers funding of up to AUD 4,620.

Other scholarships offer to cover extensive fees and help with funding. The Sir John Monash Scholarships for Excellence cover up to AUD 40,000, while the Maxwell King PhD Scholarship covers up to AUD 36,200. There are also inclusive scholarships like the MRS Queer Leadership Scholarship to look into if they are relevant to applicants. International students are advised to check their eligibility for each scholarship carefully.

University Structure

The University of Monash is made up of six campuses in and around Melbourne, but it also has a global reach with partnerships in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India and Italy. Home and away, each Monash campus is exciting and full of resources.

The largest campus is Clayton Campus, about 20km southeast of Melbourne and filled with 26,000 of the university’s students. Then there’s the Parkville Campus, which has recently undergone an AUD 50,000,000 development process and now contains some of Monash’s best research labs and teaching spaces. Other important Monash locations include Caulfield Campus, the Peninsula Campus, the Law Chambers and 750 Collins Street.

On the subject of the Law Chambers, Monash actually has one of Australia’s best law schools. These Chambers are in a great position, right in the middle of Melbourne’s legal centre, with quick access to the city’s Magistrate, County and Supreme courts.

Across the Monash campuses and locations, there are over 100 research centres and institutes doing important work. These include the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, the Energy Institute and the eResearch Centre. All the subjects, courses and research programmes fall into one of Monash’s 10 faculties:

• The Faculty of Arts
• The Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
• The Faculty of Business and Economics
• The Faculty of Education
• The Faculty of Engineering
• The Faculty of Information Technology
• The Faculty of Law
• The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
• The Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• The Faculty of Science

Students at any of Monash’s campuses can expect the same excellent quality of teaching. Though far from Australia, the Prato Centre in Italy is still very well-respected and appreciated for the same high standards. It’s a hub for short courses, workshops, seminars and conferences and students are offered the opportunity to study abroad there as part of many of the university’s programmes.

Facilities

Monash University isn’t all about academic success. Though many of the facilities, from modern lecture theatres (ranging from 42 to 400 seats depending on need) to crafted study spaces make academic achievement easier, there are also lots of helpful facilities across the campuses that support student recreation and relaxation.

Head to any campus student activity centre or student life centre for food and drink in close proximity to academic support and guidance. The Monash Sport Clayton Institution is a good example. It has table tennis tables, squash facilities and swimming facilities, as well as a new games and activities room for billiards, foosball and air hockey. There’s even an escape room in which students can race against time and use their brains to solve clues and get out.

The Caulfield and Peninsula campuses both have bookstores, and great dining establishments dot the campuses (like The Den, in which there’s even a souvlaki bar). Also at Caulfield Campus is a student recreation centre complete with indoor courts for soccer, basketball, and badminton.

There are multiple libraries available to students at Monash, including the popular Student Union Recreational Library (SURLY), which puts the focus on communal, fun learning and has a big collection of digital and print archives. Clayton Campus is home to the Matheson Library, an essential resource for those studying humanities, as well as the Hargreave-Andrew Library for science, medicine, engineering and IT.

In the field of research, there are lots of exciting spots, but none are more exciting than the Action Lab, a space dedicated to human-computer interaction, or the Collective Behaviour Lab, a space dedicated to the study of ecology, social and citizen sciences and sustainable energy systems.

Accommodation

Monash University offers both on-campus and off-campus accommodation for international students. The Clayton Campus is the largest and is where the majority of students live. Students studying at other campuses can also choose to live at Clayton, where there is more space (and often more activity).

Student accommodation options at Monash University include residence halls and urban community studio apartments. These options are available at both the Clayton and Peninsula campuses. The Peninsula Campus is roughly 30 minutes away from Clayton by car, and it also provides a short commute to local beaches for any lovers of the sea.

The residential halls are a traditional kind of university accommodation. Each student can expect a shared apartment with their own private bedroom but a shared kitchen, bathroom and lounge. On Peninsula Campus, laundry services are also offered in the residential village. Urban Community studio apartments are well-equipped will all the necessary facilities, including a private ensuite and a kitchenette.

Off-campus university accommodation options for international students include affiliated student accommodation, private rentals, rooming houses, and shared student houses, all located in and around the city of Melbourne.

Average costs for off-campus rental accommodation range from AUD 160 to AUD 500 per week, depending on the type and location of the student house. Those costs don’t include gas, electricity, water, phone or internet charges, except in rooming houses where utilities are included in the rent.

Postgraduate students should be aware that there are also specific graduate wings of accommodation available if campus living is the ideal option.

Student Support

Monash University offers a range of student support services. These student services cover everything from financial concerns to health and counselling services to support for elite athletes and performers. Monash also provides student support to minority communities, including Indigenous Australians and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Safety and security are a priority at Monash, and the Monash BSafe app helps to keep things under control. The university also cares deeply about accessibility and aims to provide support to disabled applicants whenever and wherever this is needed. The GradWISE employment and student support programme, for example, offers disabled students a student guide to help them with employment after graduation and prepare them well for the working world.

International students also benefit from their own dedicated set of services, including useful resources about travelling to Australia and Australian life, specific points of academic and accommodation support for international students and the Global Ambassador Programme.

Graduate Outcomes

Monash has a great reputation and history when it comes to graduate employment, and job prospects for Monash graduates only seem to be improving with time. The QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022 placed it at number 54 globally, an increase of 12 places since the last ranking in 2019, and the international outlook rating is currently 91 per cent.

Career options are wide open to Monash students because they work hard, but also because they are very well-prepared for the professional world by their university. This preparation happens because students enjoy quality teaching from talented lecturers, have lots of chances to gain professional experience during their studies, and can easily access excellent career services.

CareerConnect is an online portal that gives students many great professional resources and employment services. It also provides them with information about volunteering roles and work placements, reminds them of upcoming fairs and networking events, and so on. Through CareerConnect, students can also book a one-on-one evaluation session with a career guide or a one-on-one mentoring session with a successful Monash alumnus.

Monash has over 260 employer partners around and beyond Melbourne — partners who are consistently eager and keen to take on their students and see them contribute to their industries and/or companies, innovating and improving things. International students looking to make an impact in the world, either in Australia or elsewhere, should definitely consider studying at this special university.