About the Scholarship

Are you a talented Australian, passionate about this country and with the desire to contribute to its future?

Then you should apply for the Cranfield Australian Alumni Scholarship. This scholarship will give you the opportunity to develop world-class leadership and management skills by undertaking the intensive one-year MBA programme at Cranfield School of Management, UK.

This Scholarship is the pre-eminent opportunity for outstanding Australians with diverse work, educational and life experiences and who possess the entrepreneurial and leadership talents to benefit from the learning opportunity and then contribute to Australia’s future.

The Cranfield Australian Alumni community  are driven by the ethos of  contribution and notion of ‘pay it forward’. We, as Cranfield alumni, have benefited from our Cranfield experience and are now helping the next generation of talented Australians, who in turn, will help others follow them.

Funded jointly by Cranfield Alumni in Australia and the Cranfield School of Management, UK, the Scholarship was established in 2005 to give talented Australians the opportunity to accelerate their professional, personal and leadership development. Cranfield School of Management’s MBA programme is highly regarded and highly ranked:

Our Scholarship aims to increase the number of Australians with internationally ranked skills in leadership and management, who will then contribute both to the economic welfare of the nation as well as to the values that make Australia unique.

How this Scholarship is distinctive

The Cranfield Australian Alumni Scholarship is distinctly different from the other notable scholarships available to Australians for overseas study, e.g., Rhodes, Menzies, Fulbright and Sir John Monash scholarships. All of these excellent scholarships have a strong research and academic focus emphasis and eligibility criteria and are oriented to post-graduate level research candidates.

By comparison, our Scholarship is aimed not at theoretical or research-based study—although we see it complementing the important endeavours of those other scholarships. Rather, our Scholarship is aimed at the acquisition and then practical application of knowledge to  leadership and management. Our focus is to identify and develop candidates with business management, leadership and/or entrepreneurial talent. For this reason,  our scholarship is open to applicants who may not have completed an undergraduate degree, but have demonstrated through exceptional work track record that they have the intelligence, talent and persistence to do well.

Perhaps one day we will see Cranfield Scholars running businesses which commercialize the research discoveries made by Monash and Menzies scholars.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility for CAASF is defined in simple terms. Applicants must:

  1. Be an Australian citizen residing in Australia during the selection process
  2. Have at least 3-4 years of practical, work and life experience with a track record of success. There are no upper or lower limits for age, however, given the experience criteria, applicants are usually between 28 and 34 years of age
  3. Have the talent and passion to contribute to Australia’s future
  4. Have been awarded (and have accepted) a place on the Cranfield full-time MBA programme via the normal Cranfield application process.

Check your eligibility for the Cranfield MBA here.

Please note:

If you do not fulfil the eligibility criteria e.g. you are Permanent Resident but not a citizen, you should still register with us, as there may be other Cranfield scholarships you may be eligible for.

Because we do face-to-face interviews, you need to be based here in Australia during the selection process. If you are an Australian travelling/working overseas, we cannot interview you, but again, you should register for the same reason as above.

See more information under FAQs.

What the Scholarship covers

The Scholarship covers:

      • Tuition fees for the full time MBA programme, presently £39,000 (2019-20), and
      • a cash grant towards accommodation, living and travel expenses.

CAASF depends on the generosity and support of alumni for its ongoing funds, together with corporate donations. In the past, the amount of the cash contribution has been $20,000, but we cannot guarantee this each year. Whilst we will seek to maintain the Scholarship award at the above figure, the future value will depend on the amount we are able to raise in the preceding year and we will announce the value of the current Scholarship by the end of July each year.

In 2020 (subject to exchange rate fluctuations), the value of the place on the programme alone is $AUD73,000, making it the most valuable scholarship in Australia for a single year of study.

Further information on cost of living and accommodation is available through the Cranfield MBA website

‘Pay it forward’

We, as Alumni, have benefited from our Cranfield experience and are now helping the next generation of talented Australians to gain access to the exceptional management and leadership development that the Cranfield MBA offers.

We expect those that we help to, in turn, help others to follow in their footsteps.

We ask those who benefit from the scholarship to ‘pay it forward’ in any way that best works for them, that is by contributing  time,  effort, money or resources. As a minimum, we expect Scholarship winners to

  • Promote the Scholarship amongst their professional and personal networks
  • Write a blog during their time at Cranfield
  • Do a short video during their year to be shown at the Award Dinner and then load onto our website.
  • Act as a public face for CAASF whilst at Cranfield and at any opportunity thereafter
  • Support the scholarship financially.

In this way, we ensure that the cycle repeats and the Scholarship lives on in a sustainable way.

Our aims for the Scholarship

The Cranfield alumni in Australia created the scholarship as a means of contributing to the vibrancy of the Alumni community here and also as our contribution to this country. We also have other aims that we wish to achieve through the scholarship:

For applicants

  • Applicants experience a professional and rigorous selection process which will be a valuable learning experience in itself.
  • The winner has the age, talent and work experience to capitalise on the unique opportunity. This scholarship demonstrably enhances the winner’s personal and professional abilities and career and is thus seen as a highly valuable prize.
  • Even if the applicants decide not to go to Cranfield to study for an MBA, the contact with alumni and the discussion process serves to trigger applicants to consider the value of management study in developing themselves professionally and personally and that this encourages them into further management education locally.
  • Exposure to an international learning environment and fellow students feeds back into the practice of management in Australia.

For Alumni

  • The annual process of running the scholarship provides a vehicle for all Australian Cranfield alumni from all schools to work together on a worthwhile project of great value to Australia.
  • The annual award event (held in alternate years in Melbourne and Sydney) provides an excellent opportunity for all Alumni to get together once each year.
  • The personal rewards gained by talent spotting potential applicants for the scholarship, inviting them to alumni functions and encouraging them to apply for Cranfield scholarship creates a focus which enlivens the local alumni groups.
  • Increased MBA enrolments from Australia feed back into increased growth and energy in the local Cranfield alumni groups.
  • The publicity associated with the scholarship and its high-profile sponsors and alumni, raises the recognition of Cranfield University and the School of Management in Australia and the unique value of the Cranfield MBA

For Cranfield University and the School of Management

  • The increased profile for Cranfield increases the quality and number of MBA applicants from Australia. This feeds a virtuous cycle; excellence and diversity in the student body leads to increased richness and quality of learning, which in turn feeds the success of the Graduates and the School as an academic research and teaching institution.

For Australia

  • This scholarship, through the diversity of its reach and the skills and knowledge in leadership and management that it will develop in the recipients, has the capability to make a significant impact to Australia.
  • As the scholarship aims to improve the quality of leadership and management skills in all sectors of business and the community, we actively seek diversity in age, education and professional background in the registrants. The scholarship will be particularly attractive to highly skilled specialists who wish to broaden and strengthen their management experience.
  • In the longer term, Australians with internationally ranked skills in leadership and management contribute both to the economic welfare of the nation as well as to the values that make Australia unique.