Study a PhD from Australia for 'free' ~ ?

Some random life hack i thought off if people really wanted a PhD, at a lower cost.

1) Getting an Australian Permanent Resident via their Skills Visa Route.

Australia has a skills visa route that grants you a PR visa if you meet certain criteria, eg, age, relevant work experience, etc.

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/189-

Not every job is listed, but there's a real extensive list. There's a high chance your job might be listed inside.

The fees for this per person is about $3600 AUD. Process time is about 12 months.

2) Once you get the visa, you fly into Australian once, to get the PR activated. The PR has a 5 year validity before it expires. Basically it gives you 5 years to either move down to Australia, or renew the PR visa before it expires. You don't need to be in Oz to 'keep' your Oz PR.

3) Now comes the fun part. I found out undergraduate and masters programs in all Australian universities has this thing call CSP (Commonwealth supported places) It means the fees for the program are at 'fixed' rates for Oz citizens and PR holders. A BS/BA in Arts/Science/Computing/Engineering is like $8k ~ $10k/year. A masters program (most of them that are CSP supported) is $10k/year.

A PhD is free via on campus or distance learning. You can check University of Southern Queensland below,

https://www.usq.edu.au/study/degrees/doctor-of-philosophy#fees

And the University of New England

https://my.une.edu.au/courses/2017/courses/PHD

USQ and UNE have a whole list of PhD programs via research and taught.

I guess if someone is desperate enough to want a PhD on a cheap (visa + air fare fees), this could potentially be very cheap. And gives you an option to work legally in Australia too.

:tounge-in-cheek:

 

@nyvrem ... just for your kind info that RTP Scheme obliges you to carry Research normally for a minimum of 40 hours a week. So, that is almost full-time ... I am myself a RTP Awardee, so talking with my personal experience.

 

That's a great news.