Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal of the... · The Aurora Indigenous Scholarships...

Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal

The Aurora Education Foundation

17 August 2018

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | i |

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© Nous Group

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | ii |

Contents

Glossary ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... iii

1 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1

2 This evaluation assesses the impact of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal ........................................................ 7

3 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is an important part of the infrastructure for Indigenous education

outcomes ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4 Aurora’s activities build, improve and promote the Indigenous Scholarships Portal .................................... 13

5 Many Indigenous students and their support network use the Indigenous Scholarships Portal ............. 16

6 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is an effective and valued resource ........................................................... 21

7 Aurora can build on the success of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal to play a greater role in

scholarship applications ................................................................................................................................................................... 26

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | iii |

Glossary

Aurora Aurora Education Foundation.

Aurora Outreach A program that facilitates Indigenous university students and graduates

to visit high schools to give inspirational talks about career pathways.

IHEU Indigenous Higher Education Unit.

Newsletter

The Aurora Indigenous Scholarships Newsletter is a monthly online

newsletter that includes scholarships information, career opportunities

and other useful resources.

On-rails questions The on-rails questions are nine short questions that users complete on

the Portal to help target and refine their search of scholarships listings.

TAI The Aspiration Initiative.

The Study Tour The Indigenous Scholars International Study Tour.

The Scholarships Program The International Scholarships Program.

The Portal The Indigenous Scholarships Portal.

In this document the term ‘Indigenous’ refers to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | 1 |

1 Executive Summary

Since 2010 Aurora has committed to improve Indigenous students’ access to information about

scholarships and other financial assistance so they are better able to achieve their education and career

aspirations. Aurora’s commitment has led to a unique and comprehensive resource, the Indigenous

Scholarships Portal (Portal), for Indigenous students. More specifically, the Portal is:

• unique because there is no other resource available that effectively lists scholarships in a content

hierarchy (Indigenous eligibility, then location, then subject) that responds to the specific interests,

needs and personal circumstances of Indigenous students

• comprehensive because it collates over 840 university, private, philanthropic and government

scholarships, both Indigenous specific and mainstream.

The Portal’s reach extends across a large proportion of the Indigenous community, including Indigenous

students who use the Portal to look for scholarships for themselves and their networks who use the Portal

to look for scholarships for others. The number of both visitors to the Portal and users of the Portal’s

personalised functionality has increased over time. The number of subscribers to the Aurora Newsletter

(Newsletter), a key marketing channel for the Portal, has also risen over time.

Aurora has developed an effective and valued resource for a considerable population. Stakeholders

identified that the Portal has the right content and the content is easy to find. They also highlighted that

the Portal is a culturally safe online environment due to Aurora’s cultural responsiveness to the needs of

stakeholders and users, and the Portal’s focus on Indigenous-specific content, including scholarships and

other information. The Portal is also a unique and comprehensive channel to reach Indigenous students

for scholarship providers, particularly non-university scholarship providers.

The Portal increases Indigenous students’ access to financial support and resources so that they are better

able to achieve their education and career aspirations. Aurora has an opportunity to build on the success

of the Portal to play a greater role in scholarship applications and use its knowledge and expertise to

influence a more efficient system of financial assistance for Indigenous students.

1.1 Evaluation findings

Aurora’s original motivation when it developed the Indigenous Scholarships Website in 2011 was to

address the absence of any central source of information about scholarships for Indigenous students.

Aurora’s broader aim was to support Indigenous students overcome financial constraints that act as a

barrier to Indigenous students’ access to university and a negative impact on students’ opportunity for

success.

Researchers and stakeholders have consistently identified financial barriers as one of, if not the most

significant factor, which affects Indigenous students’ ability to continue in higher education.1 Financial

support, often in the form of scholarships, can aid in the reduction of the economic hardship that students

and their families face and support their success in higher education.

Aurora designed the Portal to act as a central repository of financial support and opportunities for

Indigenous students, including undergraduate, postgraduate and VET students, who undertake tertiary

education. Over time Aurora has refined the design, functionality and content of the Indigenous

Scholarships Portal to enhance its effectiveness. This includes several design features and functions that

help students match their personal circumstances to scholarship eligibility requirements, allow students to

create user accounts, shortlist scholarships and save application responses and documents and enable

Aurora to collect de-identified data to understand user demand for scholarships.

1 Kinnane, S., Wilks, J., Wilson, K., Hughes, T. and Thomas, S., ‘Can’t be what you can’t see’: The transition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students into higher education, The University of Notre Dame, 2014.


Aurora market the Portal through several channels, including search engine optimisation, word of mouth,

advertising and stakeholder partnerships and the Newsletter. Aurora draws on multiple sources to fund

the Portal.

Many Indigenous students and their support network use the Indigenous Scholarships

Portal

A considerable number of users engage with the Portal and this has increased over time. Traction and

engagement with the Portal's new functionality indicate there is growing demand for information about

scholarship opportunities. Key indicators of the increase in user engagement with the Portal include:

• The number of listed scholarships has more than doubled from 410 to over 840 since Aurora launched

the Indigenous Scholarships Website in 2011; the more than 840 scholarships at the time of the

evaluation have an approximate total value of $70 million.

• Unique visits increased by 162 percent between 2012 and 2018 and in 2017 there were more than

66,0002 unique visits.

• More than 5,900 unique users have used the Portal’s match functionality through the ‘on-rails’

questions; these users have completed the ‘on-rails’ questions over 18,000 times since December 2016

– approximately 1,000 individual occasions per month.

• More than 1,400 users have created user accounts and have shortlisted just over 4,500 scholarships; 70

per cent of the short-listed scholarships are Indigenous-specific.

• The total number of Newsletter subscribers has increased by 26 percent since the start of the

evaluation from just over 3,500 to more than 4,400.3

The ‘on-rails’ questions also provide a snapshot of the profile of the Portal’s users. This data provides

valuable insights into the shape of demand for scholarships among Indigenous students, both current and

potential. For example, users who completed the ‘on-rails’ questions are predominantly female, mostly

between 21 and 30 years old, generally from regional Australia and typically interested in undergraduate

scholarships.

The combination of scholarship data and user data offers a unique data set of both supply and demand

and a comparison of scholarship listings and the ‘on-rails’ data suggests that scholarship supply mirrors

student demand. The top five areas of study by scholarship listing for a single area of study matches the

top five preferred areas of study indicated by users through the ‘on-rails’ questions.

Figure 1 provides a snapshot of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal’s usage across the key indicators

outlined above.

2 66,000 unique visits include unique visits to the Portal’s supported resources interface (the old The Aspiration Initiative website). 3 We have used the total number of successful deliveries to email addresses as the number of Newsletter subscribers. This is less than

the total number of recipients of the Newsletter as some email addresses are no longer active.

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | iii |

Figure 1 | Snapshot of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal's usage

There are 1,411 user accounts on the Portal who have shortlisted 4,571scholarships

The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is used by many indigenous students and their support network

There are 840 scholarships listed on the Portal

worth approximately $70 million

55% of scholarships are available only to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Source: Nous group analysis of scholarship listings May 2018 (Aurora Education Foundation); Nous Group analysis of on -rails data May 2018 (Aurora Education Foundation)* This analysis is only for scholarships with ‘single’ areas of study, therefore scholarships with areas of study and majors are not included. ^All areas of study, including all excluding non-award, were not included in this analysis and account for 47% of listed scholarships.

**66,000 unique visitors refers to unique visitors to the Portal as well as the old The Aspiration Initiative website.

The Portal had 66,000 unique visits during 2017

and since 2012 unique visits to the Portal** have

increased year on year by 162%

There are 4,400subscribers to the Aurora

and Portal Newsletter

There have been 18,072 on-rails events to refine scholarship searches and 5,948 unique on-rails users, and of the unique on-rails users:

70% of users agree

information on the

Portal meets their needs

Society and Culture

29%26%

17%

Health

7% 5%

12%

Management

and Commerce

4%

11%

Education

5%3%

Creative Arts

41%

47%

12%the majority are

from remote locations

Listed scholarships on the Portal^

Unique on-rails searches

Major Cities

of Australia

Regional

Remote

Supply mirrors demand; the top five areas of study by scholarships available and on-rails preferences match

68% = female

30% = male

2% = non gender

specific

Number of

scholarships for

a specific single

area of study*

vs user

preference for

specific area of

study

5%

26%29%

11%

17%

7%12%

4% 3% 5%

41%

47%

12%

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | iv |

The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is an effective and valued resource

The sustained increase in engagement with the Portal, in terms of scholarships listed, unique visitors and

users who have engaged with the Portal’s new functionality, demonstrates that the Portal has achieved

considerable usage and is an effective and influential resource. It also indicates that Aurora is on its way to

achieving the Portal’s aim; to increase Indigenous students’ access to financial support and resources so

they are better able to achieve their education and career aspirations.

The Portal improves awareness of scholarship opportunities and generates knowledge about available

sources of financial support for Indigenous students. The Portal achieves this because it:

• reaches a sizeable proportion of Indigenous students; the number of unique visitors to the Portal in

the first quarter of 2018 (15,030) is equivalent to almost 60 percent of the combined total (25,250) of

Indigenous Australians who attended an Australian university or other tertiary institution (rounded

down to 17,500) and potential Indigenous Australian students (approximately 7,750).4

• is a unique, relevant and effective directory of scholarship information; stakeholders validated the

Portal’s relevance and effectiveness across a number of indicators, including whether the Portal’s

content meets user needs, the Portal’s ease of use and the Portal’s ability to support both students

and their support network to achieve a number of important goals regarding accessing or supporting

students to access scholarship opportunities (see Figure 2).

• may motivate and enable scholarship applications; although Aurora cannot track student outcomes

through the Portal, there are indications from survey responses and anecdotal stories from

stakeholders that the Portal does motivate and enable scholarship applications.

• is a culturally safe and appropriate online resource; many stakeholders identified that the Portal was

responsive to the cultural needs of Indigenous students and they were highly likely to recommend the

Portal to a friend, family member, peer or colleague, indicating there is a high level of trust in the

Portal’s content.

• is a unique channel for scholarship providers; it offers scholarship providers, particularly non-

university scholarship providers, a comprehensive channel to reach Indigenous students.

Figure 2 overleaf outlines stakeholder views on the impact of the Portal that were collected through the

Portal survey.

4 This number includes the total number of Indigenous Australians who attended an Australian university or other tertiary institution in 2016

(17,800) and an approximation of the number of potential Indigenous students using the average number of Indigenous students who begun tertiary study across 2016 and 2015 (approximately 7750).

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | v |

Figure 2 | Summary of stakeholder views on the impact of the Portal5

1.2 Recommendations

Aurora can build on the success of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal to play a greater role in scholarship

applications. To achieve this the primary recommendation is that Aurora use the findings from this

evaluation and the outcomes of the Macquarie Kick starter program, which will support Aurora to develop

a business plan, to prioritise the strategic opportunities that it should pursue in the short to medium term.

Once Aurora has determined what opportunities it should pursue it can then consider other actions,

including, improving tools to to better understand user preferences and expectations, refining Portal

design and functionality, improving engagement with partners and academic networks, and developing

added functionality for scholarship providers.

Table 1 outlines the report’s recommendations. Section 7 outlines the recommendations in full.

5 See section 7.2 for details on the survey methodology.

strongly agreed or agreed that the Portal

improved their access to scholarship

opportunities

(students only)

8


increased their awareness of other resources to

support them to complete tertiary study

(students only)

8


increased their awareness of financial resources

for Indigenous students

(non-students only)

9


increased their ability to support Indigenous

students to access scholarship opportunities

(non-students only)

9


increased their awareness of other resources

available to support Indigenous students to

complete tertiary study

(non-students only)

9

strongly agreed or agreed that the portal meets

their needs 8

For every ten Portal survey respondents…

think that it is very easy or easy to find the

information or content they look for on the

Portal

8

would recommend the Portal to a friend, family

member, peer or colleague7

Indigenous specific scholarships and monetary value were the most important scholarship criteria for users

who completed the Portal survey.

Nous Group | Evaluation of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal | 17 August 2018 | vi |

Table 1 | Recommendations

# Recommendation

Assess strategic opportunities and clarify the Portal’s strategic focus to achieve greater impact (section 7.1)

1 Review the opportunities for greater impact identified by the evaluation against the Portal’s updated business

plan and refresh the Portal’s strategic direction to focus activities and prioritise improvements.

Improve tools to better understand user preferences and expectations (section 7.2)

2 Develop site functionality to understand user preferences and impact to better meet the needs of Indigenous

students.

3 Implement approaches to improve the amount and quality of user feedback to better understand users’

needs.

Refine Portal design and functionality to improve the user experience (section 7.2)

4 Prioritise the current and proposed Portal updates to address the needs of students and achieve the Portal’s

refreshed strategic focus (as per recommendation 1).

Improve engagement with partners and academic networks to increase awareness and impact (section 7.4)

5 Formalise the Portal team’s relationship management with IHEUs across Australia.

6 Develop new functionality so stakeholders who support students can engage with their students through the

Portal.

7 Explore strategic partnerships with employer aggregators, such as Reconciliation Australia.

Develop functionality to increase the Portal’s appeal for scholarship providers (see section 7.5)

8 Consider improvements to the Portal’s functionality that improve the user experience of scholarship providers.


2 This evaluation assesses the impact of the

Indigenous Scholarships Portal

This report is the final report of a three-year evaluation into the Aurora Education Foundations’ (Aurora)

suite of interconnected Indigenous education programs. The purpose of the evaluation is to analyse the

need for, the impact and the opportunities to improve the programs that Aurora delivers. At the core of

the programs is a desire to change perceptions and transform lives by investing in potential and inspiring

excellence through education at the highest level.6

The suite of programs aims to achieve this through a combination of activities that raise awareness, build

aspiration, match Indigenous students to educational opportunities, and support those students to access

and successfully take advantage of those opportunities. The individual programs reinforce each other’s

goals through formal and informal interactions between the programs and participants – for example

when participants access, or are involved in, more than one program.

At the centre of the feedback loop between the programs is the Portal. Figure 3 illustrates the role the

Portal plays to support and reinforce the goals of the other Aurora programs. It also represents the role

the Portal plays to empower Indigenous students, families and communities, scholarship providers,

administrators, and other stakeholders that support Indigenous students.

Figure 3 | The Indigenous Scholarship Portal’s sphere of influence within Aurora

6 The Aurora Project website: http://auroraproject.com.au/overview.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER STUDENTS, FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

Stakeholders that support students

The Portal helps Indigenous Higher Education Units, school career advisors, employers, industry representatives and advisory groups to support

students find scholarships and other opportunities.

Scholarship providers and administrators

The Portal helps government, private, philanthropic, universities, education and training institutes, admission centres and employers with scholarships

and other opportunities find eligible Indigenous students.

The Portal empowers Indigenous students, families and communities with access to a simple and centralised resource that helps them to find financial support and enables them to realise their educational aspirations.

Aurora OutreachOutreach staff deliver Portal sessions to introduce participants

to its function and support them find financial opportunities that

can help them achieve their study aspirations.

The Aspiration InitiativeTAI staff provide one-on-one and group sessions to introduce

participants to the Portal in Year 11 and Year 12 to find the financial

supports that can help them achieve their study aspirations.

International PathwaysThe Portal hosts applications for the International Study

Tour, the Charlie Perkins Scholarship and Roberta

Sykes Scholarship and bursaries.

AURORA EDUCATION FOUNDATION PROGRAMS INTERACT WITH THE PORTAL

INDIGENOUS SCHOLARSHIPS PORTAL

Aim

Increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ access to financial support and resources, so they are better able to achieve their education and career aspirations.

Approach

(1) Make scholarships easy to find

(2) Provide clear steps and useful resources on How to Apply

(3) Simplify the scholarship application process for applicants

(4) Provide a culturally safe online community.

High school University


2.1 Evaluation methodology

In the first stage of the three-year evaluation a baseline of performance and preliminary findings for each

program was developed (except for Aurora Outreach, which was not in operation when the evaluation

began). This report focuses on the Portal and offers more detailed findings.

This report has been produced 18 months after significant changes in the functionality and appearance of

the Portal. With that in mind, the timing of this report provides an opportunity to assess the need for the

Portal and assess evidence of its impact. The report identifies adjustments to system and design

requirements, as well as program implementation, that Aurora can make to improve the new iteration of

the Portal.

Nous conducted the evaluation between April and July 2018. The main data sources used in this

evaluation include:

• interviews with Aurora staff members and key stakeholders who interact with the Portal and Aurora,

including Portal users7

• survey of Portal and Newsletter users8

• Portal and Newsletter analytics and Aurora data sets9

• existing literature

• program documentation.

To maintain the privacy of interviewees and survey respondents, they are cited in general terms

throughout the report with reference to their relationship to the Portal (e.g. portal user or staff-member).

7 Nous consulted with six Aurora Education Foundation staff members from the Portal team, the Outreach program and The Aspiration Initiative; representatives from three Indigenous Higher Education Units (IHEU); a university student and former Aurora intern; and two scholarship providers. Many other consultations with additional scholarship providers and IHEUs were scheduled but not possible to arrange due to staff turnover. Interviews are referenced as ‘Portal consultations’ throughout the document. 8 Nous conducted a survey of Portal users in June 2018. The Portal survey was sent to 6,049 recipients, 58 people completed the survey. The confidence interval for responses was between 10 and 14 based on a population equivalent to the number of unique visitors to the Portal in Q1 2018. The survey is referenced as ‘Portal survey’ throughout the document. 9 Nous undertook analysis of four key datasets: Portal scholarship listings, Portal google analytics data, Portal internal on-rails data, and Newsletter google analytics data.


3 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is an

important part of the infrastructure for

Indigenous education outcomes

Aurora developed the Portal to increase Indigenous students’ access to financial support and resources, so

they are better able to achieve their education and career aspirations. Financial constraints were identified

as a key barrier to Indigenous students’ access to university and a negative impact on students’

opportunity for success.

This section of the report explores the way in which financial barriers impede Indigenous educational

participation and success and how scholarships and other financial supports aim to address these barriers.

It describes how Aurora designed the portal to meet this need and to support more Indigenous students

access financial support.

3.1 Despite recent improvement, many Indigenous students are

not realising their education potential

The number of Indigenous students in higher education award courses has more than doubled over the

past decade (from 8,803 in 2006 to 17,728 in 2016).10 Universities have steadily implemented internal

policies, plans and programs to lift participation and attainment by Indigenous Australians. The

Universities Australia Indigenous Strategy 2017–2020 outlines the university sectors commitment to

Indigenous participation and success through a set of actions that aim to continue to increase student

enrolments, improve student retention and success rates, promote Indigenous knowledge and increase

the number of Indigenous staff.11

Despite these commitments and the increase in participation, Indigenous students continue to face many

barriers to participation and success. Barriers include a lack of career guidance, knowledge on how to

navigate the system and culturally appropriate content as well as few role models and financial

constraints.12 These barriers have contributed to the fact that Indigenous students are:

• only 1.7 per cent of the domestic student population, well below parity with the Australian working

age population, which is 3.1 per cent13

• less likely to complete their course of study: only 40.5 per cent of Indigenous students who began

university studies in 2010 had completed a degree by 2015, compared with 66.4 per cent of non-

Indigenous students14

• 50 per cent more likely than non-Indigenous students to leave their course of study in their first year

of study.15

Of the barriers listed above, financial constraints are arguably one of the most influential16 because they

compound the effects of the other barriers. Financial constraints can include the cost of accommodation,

study materials, child care, public transport, running a car and financial debts. More than 40 per cent of

Indigenous students say their financial circumstances have a negative effect on their study, compared to

10 Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2018, 2018. 11 Universities Australia, Indigenous Strategy 2017–2020, 2017. 12 Gore, J., Patfield, S., Fray, L., Holmes, K., Grupetta, M., Lloyd, A., Smith, M. and Heath, T., The participation of Australian Indigenous students in higher education: a scoping review of empirical research, 2000–2016, The Australian Educational Researcher, 44(3), pp. 323-355, 2017. 13 Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2018, 2018. 14 Ibid. 15 Cherastidtham, I. & Norton A., University attrition: what helps and what hinders university completion?, Grattan Institute, Sydney, 2018. 16 Pechenkina, E. & Anderson, I., Background paper on Indigenous Australian higher education: trends, initiatives and policy implications, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra, 2011.


about 25 per cent of non-Indigenous students.17 A considerable proportion of students, and other

stakeholders who worked with Indigenous students, from across Australian universities highlighted

financial constraint as one of, if not the most significant factor, which affects Indigenous students’ ability

to continue in higher education.18

The inability to negotiate fees and financial support can result in poor outcomes for students. A recent

study into Indigenous student experiences at the University of Queensland highlighted that non-

completed students would often site financial difficulties as the reason they left university.19 This was

worsened by the students’ inability to find scholarships or other financial support that would allow them to

commit the required time to be successful at university. Another recent study found financial pressures

were particularly significant for high-achieving Indigenous students due to the substantial financial and

cultural obligations they held to their families and communities.20

Financial support, often in the form of scholarships, can aid in the reduction of this economic hardship that

students and their families face. The 2012 Behrendt report highlighted that a progressive income support

system and other forms of student financial assistance is essential to widen participation and enable

success.21 The offer of financially supported pathways into higher education, such as cadetships and other

partnership initiatives, are also effective strategies to support Indigenous students that face financial

barriers.

Indigenous students currently receive financial support through:

• Commonwealth programs, including ABSTUDY, relocation scholarships and the Student Start-up Loan

• State government scholarships, particularly those that support state government careers like teaching

and nursing

• university scholarship programs, including both Indigenous specific and mainstream scholarships

• private and philanthropic scholarships, including scholarships that align with specific careers, areas of

study or regional characteristics

• internships and cadetship programs, such as the Aurora internship program, CareerTrackers

internship program and government cadetships.

There has been an increase in opportunities available for Indigenous students in recent years.

Reconciliation Action Plans have spurred private organisations to invest more in study and employment

support for Indigenous candidates. The purpose of this investment is to build a pipeline of Indigenous

students who can move into professional roles.

Despite what seems like many scholarship opportunities, there is anecdotal evidence that a large

proportion of eligible student are unable to find appropriate financial support and many scholarship

providers are unable to fill the available scholarships. There is limited quantitative data to determine how

many scholarships go unfilled, especially since there is no centralised reporting of scholarship outcomes.

However, there is qualitative data that suggests scholarship providers struggle to find enough candidates.

When Aurora first developed the requirements for the Portal the technical provider completed interviews

with scholarship providers. The scholarship providers highlighted that their key challenge was to receive a

sufficient number of relevant applications to fill their scholarships.

This was due to:

17 Cherastidtham, I. & Norton, A., 2018. 18 Kinnane, S., Wilks, J., Wilson, K., Hughes, T. and Thomas, S., ‘Can’t be what you can’t see’: The transition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students into higher education, The University of Notre Dame, 2014. 19 Barney, K., Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to facilitate success, Student Success, 7(1), pp. 1-11, 2016. 20 Gore, J., Patfield, L., Holmes, K., A., Smith, A. Lloyd, M., Grupetta, N., Weaver, and S., Fray., When higher education is possible but not desirable: Widening participation and the aspirations of Australian Indigenous school students, The Australian Journal of Education, 61(2), pp. 164-183, 2017. 21 Behrendt, L.., Larkin, S., Griew, R., Kelly, P., Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, Australian Government, 2012.


• restrictive eligibility criteria, especially for donor funded scholarships

• difficulties for students when they fill in application forms and gather the required documents

• difficulties promoting their scholarships to students.22

Aurora developed the portal directly in response to this need.

3.2 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is part of a suite of

practical supports for Indigenous students and families

The original motivation of the Indigenous Scholarships Website was to address the absence of any central

source of information about scholarships for Indigenous students. The Portal brings together and

promotes financial support and opportunities for Indigenous students, including undergraduate,

postgraduate and VET student, who undertake tertiary education. The Portal is unique as it remains the

only central resource available for Indigenous students, their families and carers. It is the only online

resource that:

• comprehensively lists scholarships and other opportunities in a way that is designed specifically for

Indigenous students

• collates university, private, philanthropic and government scholarships, both Indigenous specific and

mainstream, without alignment with a specific university.

Although all universities have comparable scholarships website pages, the scholarships listed are only

university aligned scholarships. This means they list far fewer scholarships than what is contained in the

Portal (discussed further in section 5.1).

The aim of the Portal is to connect students to available support in a simple and easy way. Figure 4

illustrates the desired impact Aurora aims to achieve through the Portal. The past state represents the

context outlined in the section above, that is, too many eligible students are disconnected from the

financial support that could improve their access and success at university. The desired future state

represents the role the Portal plays to connect eligible students to some form of financial support.

Figure 4 | The past state and current state of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal

22 The Aspiration Initiative: excerpt of key considerations from the requirement gathering phase, the Aurora Project, 18 March 2015.

PAST STATE CURRENT STATE

Available state

and federal government

scholarships

Available private and

philanthropic

scholarships

Available university

scholarships

Eligible Aboriginal

and Torres Strait

Islander students

PO

RTA

L

PORTAL

PO

RTA

L

Matching of scholarships to Indigenous students

and Indigenous students to scholarships

Disconnect between available scholarships and

Indigenous students looking for scholarships


To achieve the desired future state, Aurora designed the Portal to:

• increase students’ awareness and uptake of scholarships and other resources available to financially

support them at university

• provide information to help them make informed choices about their academic careers

• provide access to the widest range of opportunities

• increase Indigenous students’ exposure to Indigenous academic role models.

Figure 5 illustrates that the Portal has undergone considerable change since its first iteration as a hard

copy guide to postgraduate and undergraduate scholarships in Australia in 2009. Aurora’s focus on

addressing the need for greater connection between Indigenous students and financial support and other

opportunities is central to the Portal’s evolution.

Figure 5 | Indigenous Scholarships Portal development timeline

2009 to 2010

Aurora published the first Indigenous student’s guide to postgraduate scholarships in Australia.

June 2014

Aurora launched the The Aspiration Initiative website. All scholarship listings and other useful resources from the Indigenous Scholarship

Website were transferred to the new website.

August 2014 to June 2015

Aurora scoped solutions to reduce key barriers for students to apply and receive scholarships through the TAI website. This resulted in the

conceptual approach that would underpin theIndigenous Scholarships Portal

December 2017

Aurora launched the new Aurora Education Foundation website, which includes a link to the Indigenous Scholarships Portal.

Aurora began participation in the Macquarie Foundation Kick Starter social enterprise program.

Aurora began the technical build of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal.

June 2015

Early 2011

Aurora published the Indigenous student’s guide to undergraduate scholarships in Australia andlaunched the first iteration of the Portal

Newsletter.

December 2016

Aurora soft launched the new Indigenous Scholarships Portal with added functionality. Scholarship resources on The Aspiration Initiative

website remained open, including hints and tips on completing a scholarship application.

Late 2011

Aurora moves scholarship listings into the digital space and launched the Indigenous Scholarships Website, a basic search engine site that featured

400 undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships.

The Aurora Board approved a brand change from The Aspiration Initiative to the Aurora Education Foundation.

July/August 2017

April 2018


4 Aurora’s activities build, improve and promote

the Indigenous Scholarships Portal

The Portal requires ongoing attention from Aurora to support its aim to increase Indigenous students’

access to financial support and resources, so they are better able to achieve their education and career

aspirations. The Portal team, and Aurora more broadly, undertake several activities to increase the reach

and impact of the Portal and to support the provision of accurate and timely information to stakeholders.

These activities include:

• refining the design, functionality and content of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal to enhance

effectiveness

• marketing and promotion.

This section outlines the key activities the Portal team has undertaken to support the Portal and the

funding sources.

4.1 Aurora refines the design, functionality and content of the

Indigenous Scholarships Portal to enhance effectiveness

The Portal team (including the digital scholarships program coordinator, communications coordinator and

assistant) have a strong commitment to continuous improvement and undertake a range of activities to

optimise the design, functionality and content of the Portal. This is to ensure that it is relevant to the

needs of users. These activities include the following:

• Update current and find new scholarship listings (through google alerts,

search, desktop research and scholarship providers).

• Manage a database of other opportunities, university support and career

pathways to support user enquiries.

• Manage external relationships, including advertising partners, scholarship

providers and Indigenous Higher Education Units (IHEUs).

• Engage a technical provider to build, maintain and improve the Portal’s

functionality and design (in line with changing user requirements).

The key design features and functionalities of the Portal includes:

• Match Service – when users visit the Portal they are directed to nine ‘on-rails’ questions that ask for

their gender, their date of birth, whether they are a recent high school graduate, their university of

choice, the level of study of their course, their preferred area of study, study load and mode of study,

and their postcode. Once users complete the nine questions, or a portion of the nine questions, the

Portal generates a list of filtered scholarships that meet the specific criteria. There are also added filter

and sort options to allow users to further refine their search.

• Secure individual profile – students can record information and save documents required for

scholarship applications.

• Simplified scholarship application – the Portal reduces the locations for applications and allows users

to save application responses, which then pre-fill responses for future scholarship applications, and

documents in their individual profile.

• Improved data collection and analysis capability – the Portal’s additional functionalities increase

Aurora’s capacity to collect de-identified data to understand user demand for scholarships.

Future planned activities include improving the match functionality, improving data integrity and

increasing the number and accuracy of scholarship listings. Aurora also plans to develop additional

content to promote opportunities to enable students to access tertiary education, such as summer/winter

48 per cent

of Portal survey

respondents

liked the visual

look and feel of

the Portal ‘a lot’.18


programs, alternative entry and enabling programs, as well as career pathway opportunities such as

internships, cadetships and graduate programs.23

The development of the Indigenous Scholarships Newsletter (Newsletter) has supported the Portal. Aurora

designed the Newsletter to act as a marketing channel to reach a wider audience and to also promote

scholarships, particularly close to application due dates.

4.2 Aurora handles marketing and promotion

To reach a broad group of Indigenous students, families and communities, the Portal team use several

channels. Figure 6 below shows that 55 per cent of Portal survey respondents said they first heard of the

Portal either through from IHEUs or from an Internet/Google search. 24

Figure 6 | Channels through which users first heard of the Indigenous Scholarships Portal25

Aurora promotes the Portal’s capabilities through a variety of mechanisms. These are:

• Search engine optimization drives potential users to the Portal – the Portal is the top search result in

Google for searches that use the words ‘Indigenous’ ‘Aboriginal’, ‘Torres Strait Islander’ and

‘scholarships’.

• Word of mouth is important to build awareness within the target user groups – stakeholders

highlighted the key role university IHEU play to promote engagement with the Portal.26

• Advertising and stakeholder partnerships help to cross-promote career and scholarship

opportunities – Aurora has entered into several agreements with universities to promote their

scholarships on the Portal and have the Portal promoted on university websites.

• The Newsletter is a useful promotion tool – The Newsletter is a monthly online resource that users

can subscribe to through the Portal’s ‘subscribe’ button. It includes information about latest

scholarships, career opportunities and useful education pathway resources. The Newsletter also

includes broader information about other Aurora programs. Aurora plans to create an independent

Portal Newsletter before the end of 2018.

Over 75 per cent27 of survey respondents who subscribed to the Newsletter said their primary

23 Aurora’s Portal project plan 2018–19 (Aurora Education Foundation). 24 Portal survey. 25 Ibid. 26 Portal consultations. 27 Of the 58 people who completed the Portal survey, 25 people said they were a current subscriber of the Newsletter.

Internet/Google

search

Indigenous

Higher Education Units

9%

(5)

29%

(17)

10%

(6)

26%

(15)

FamilySocial media

post (Facebook, Twitter)

9%

(5)

Aurora

outreach program

7%

(4)

Other*

5%

(3)

Employer

5%

(3)

Email

*Other responses included employer; recommended by Aboriginal institute; high School student advisor; festival or career fair; friends.


motivation for subscription was to get information about scholarships that are closing soon.28 This

reflects the Newsletters role as a key marketing channel for important and time sensitive scholarship

information.

• The Portal is used by Aurora program participants – Aurora promotes and enables the Portal’s

functionality and purpose through embedded content and dedicated sessions in the Aurora Outreach

and The Aspiration Initiative (TAI) programs. The Aurora Scholarships team use the Portal to manage

applications to the International Study Tour, the Charlie Perkins Scholarship and the Roberta Sykes

Scholarships and Bursaries.

The Portal team undertakes several activities to support users to get the most out of the Portal, including

engaging directly with users when they respond to enquiries via email and phone. The Portal team’s part-

time communications assistant responds to website enquiries. On average the Portal team responds to 20

enquiries a month from students, their families, student support roles, scholarship providers and

scholarship administrators.29

The Portal team provide advice about scholarships and other opportunities to students, their families and

stakeholders who support students. They often connect students to resources when their enquiries are not

directly related to the Portal and are considerate of students who may be sensitive or shy about their

personal circumstances.

4.3 Multiple funding sources sustain the Indigenous Scholarships

Portal

Funding for the Portal primarily comes from three sources: philanthropic and government funders;

universities and scholarship administrators as payment for marketing and advertising packages; and

scholarship providers who engage Aurora on a fee for service basis to receive advice on the promotion

and advertising of their scholarships, and/ or to help manage scholarship applications.

Developing sustainable income streams are critical to fund Aurora to maintain and improve the Portal.

New functionalities require considerable investment. In 2015–16 Aurora increased the cost of its services

to cover the cost of building new functionalities for the Portal. Aurora has actively sought government and

philanthropic funds to meet the operating expenses of the Portal.

In April 2018 Aurora were selected to take part in the Macquarie Foundation Kick Starter program, which

will guide Aurora to develop a business plan to develop new revenue streams. Aurora will also receive pro

bono support regarding the implementation of this business plan from Tanarra philanthropic advisors.

Aurora would like to increase the amount of revenue the Portal generates so that it has less reliance on

grants. This is important to support Aurora to continue to improve the Portal and to engage key

stakeholders.

28 Portal survey. 29 Aurora Education Foundation, 31 May 2018.


5 Many Indigenous students and their support

network use the Indigenous Scholarships Portal

A considerable number of users engage with the Portal and this has increased over time. Traction and

engagement with the Portal's new functionality indicate there is growing demand for information about

scholarship opportunities. This section provides details about the increase in users that engage with the

Portal, including through scholarship listings, visitors and engagement with the Portal’s new functionality,

and the Newsletter through newsletter subscribers.

5.1 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal offers a comprehensive

directory of nationally available scholarships

The Portal has a large breadth of scholarships and information.

Since Aurora launched the Indigenous Scholarships Website in

2011, the number of listed scholarships has more than doubled

from 410 to over 840, with a value of approximately

$70 million.30

The Portal has both Indigenous specific scholarships and

mainstream scholarships that are available to all Australians

(noting most listed scholarships are for Indigenous students

only). Mainstream scholarships often explicitly encourage Indigenous students to apply and support

intersectional characteristics of Indigenous students, e.g. regional or remote and other specific equity

groups. The combination of Indigenous specific and mainstream scholarships increases the financial

opportunities listed on the Portal. This directly supports the Portal’s aim to increase Indigenous students’

access to financial support and resources.

The scholarship listings support students across all major areas of study. The number of scholarship

listings means the Portal caters to users who are unsure of their specific area of study and use the Portal to

explore their options.31 Just under 50 per cent of the listings are available to students from all areas of

study.32

Health is the most popular area of study for scholarships available for students who study a specific area

of study. Nursing and Medical Studies are the most popular majors that have specific scholarships

available for Indigenous students. Society and Culture33 and Management and Commerce are the next two

most popular areas of study for scholarship listings.34

30 Nous analysis of the Indigenous Scholarship Portal listings (Aurora Education Foundation). 31 Approximately 12 per cent of unique on-rails visitors are unsure about the level of study they want to undertake. 32 Nous analysis of the Indigenous Scholarship Portal listings (Aurora Education Foundation). 33 The Australian Bureau of Statistics states that Society and Culture refers to the study of political science, behavioral science, law, language and literature, Aboriginal studies, and religious studies. 34 Nous analysis of the Indigenous Scholarship Portal listings (Aurora Education Foundation).

The Portal has 840 scholarship

listings and 55 per cent of

these are available only to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander students.26


5.2 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal attracts high levels of

visitation

The number of visitors to the Portal has risen steadily since 2012.

This suggests that both awareness and popularity of the Portal

has increased. Between 2012 and 2018 there was a 162 per cent

increase in unique visits.35

There were 66,00036 unique visits to the Portal in 2017 alone,

demonstrating it reaches a large audience of Indigenous students,

their families, and stakeholders who support Indigenous students,

such as university and high school career advisors. Figure 7

outlines the number of sessions37 and unique visitors per quarter

from quarter one 2012 until quarter one 2018. The peaks in Figure

7 represent periods of high engagement, which are related to

scholarship application periods. This is especially evident from

January to March (Q1), when students search for scholarships as

they commence the study year.

Figure 7 | Number of unique visits per quarter38

35 Nous analysis of Indigenous Scholarship Portal listings (Aurora Education Foundation).

36 66,000 unique visits include unique visits to the Portal’s supported resources interface (the old The Aspiration Initiative website).

37 Portal sessions is defined as a group of interactions one user takes within 30 minutes on the Portal.

38 Nous analysis of Indigenous Scholarship Portal listings (Aurora Education Foundation).

5,723

9,176

10,207

11,690 11,860

13,23015,467

17,288

15,031

0

4,000

8,000

12,000

16,000

20,000

24,000

Q1 2

012

Unique visits

Q1 2

013

Q2 2

012

Q4 2

014

Q3 2

012

Q3 2

013

Q2 2

013

Q4 2

012

Q4 2

013

Q1 2

014

Q2 2

014

Q1 2

017

Q3 2

014

Q1 2

015

Q2 2

015

Q3 2

015

Q4 2

015

Q1 2

016

Q2 2

016

Q3 2

016

Q4 2

016

20,513*

Q2 2

017

Q3 2

017

Q4 2

017

Q1 2

018

Unique visits per quarter

162 per cent total increase from 2012 to 2018

*The Portal and the old Indigenous Scholarships Website were open at the same time at the end of 2016 and start of 2017. Thisled to a large peak in both sessions and unique visitorsNote: The peaks in sessions and unique visitors during quarter one of each year aligns with a peak in scholarship application

deadlines.

There were 66,000 unique visits

to the Portal in 2017.

Since 2012 the number of unique

visits to the Portal has increased by

162 per cent.31


5.3 A considerable number of users have engaged with the

Indigenous Scholarships Portal’s new functionality

As outlined in section 4.1, Portal users can respond to nine ‘on-rails’ questions to filter their scholarship

searches to suit their gender, life stage, preferred university, area of study, level of study, study load, mode

of study and location. The ‘on-rails’ questions are used to match the user’s specific circumstances to the

relevant scholarships within the more than 840 listings on the Portal.

There have been more than 18,000 occasions where a Portal user has

completed on-rails questions when they visited the Portal since December

2016 – approximately 1,000 occasions per month. Further analysis of the

data identified that many of these ‘on-rails’ events were completed by the

same user who used different criteria to search for scholarships. Through

detailed analysis it was estimated that approximately 5,900 unique users

were responsible for the 18,000 total occasions where a Portal user had

completed on-rails questions.

The ‘on-rails’ questions provide a snapshot of the profile of the Portal’s

users. This data provides valuable insights into the shape of demand for

scholarships among Indigenous students, both current and potential. The

data depicted in Figure 8 shows that users were most likely to be female, to be between 21 and 30 years

old and to come from regional Australia. Over 50 per cent of unique users were interested in

undergraduate scholarships and an additional 20 per cent were interested in some form of post-graduate

study. The most common areas of study that users searched for were Health (29 per cent), Society and

Culture (26 per cent), Management and Commerce (12 per cent) and Education (11 per cent).39

Figure 8 | The number of unique on-rails users by age and gender, and remoteness and gender

The combination of scholarship data and user data offers a unique data set of supply and demand. A

comparison of scholarship listings and the ‘on-rails’ data suggests that scholarship supply mirrors student

demand. Over 65 per cent of unique users of the Portal are female. Over six per cent of scholarships listed

on the Portal are specifically targeted to females.40 In comparison, less than one per cent of scholarships

39 Nous analysis of on-rails data May 2018 (Aurora Education Foundation). 40 Nous analysis of on-rails data May 2018 and Scholarships data May 2018 (Aurora Education Foundation).

1,471

1,735

473

339

685

716

153

190

34

30

14

36

Remote

Major Cities of Australia

Postcode not provided

Regional

Female Male Non-gender specific

Unique on-rails users by remoteness and gender^

970

1,336

807

548

266

36

473

627

309

204

6824

36

25

19

1013

2

Age 21 to 30

Age 12 to 20

Age 41 to 50

Age 31 to 40

Age 51 to 60

Age 61 and over

Unique on-rails users by age and gender

^ Nous used user postcodes to determine the level of remoteness using the ABS remoteness structure. Regional includes both inner and outer regional areas and remote

includes both remote and very remote areas.

*Analysis of 5,948 events, not including 122 records where no gender was provided nor 72 records where the postcode was inval id.

Females living in

regional Australia,

aged between 21 and 30

years, are the largest

group of users of the

Portal.34


listed on the Portal are specifically targeted to males. This is consistent with the fact that Indigenous

females are more likely to attend university than Indigenous males and the current focus on increasing the

number of women in STEM degrees.

Figure 9 depicts alignment between scholarship availability and student demand across the broad areas of

study. The figure shows that the top five areas of study by scholarship listing for a single area of study

matches the top five preferred areas of study indicated by users through the ‘on-rails’ questions.

Figure 9 | Number of single ‘study of area’ scholarships* vs on-rails selected area of study of interest

There is also evidence that users of the Portal are primarily interested in Indigenous-only scholarships. By

May 2018 there were more than 1,400 user accounts. Students who created user accounts had shortlisted

just over 4,500 scholarships. Approximately 70 per cent of these were

scholarships for Indigenous students only, a larger ratio of Indigenous to

non-Indigenous scholarships than the total number listed on the Portal

illustrating users favor Indigenous-specific scholarships.41

Survey responses also provide evidence that Portal users are more

interested in Indigenous specific scholarships.42 Indigenous-only

eligibility was the number one scholarship criteria for 30 per cent of

survey respondents and one of the top three criteria for almost 70 per

cent of survey respondents. In this respect the Portal is well placed as a

dedicated resource for Indigenous students, families and communities.

41 Data is from 10 May 2018 and was provided by No Moss. This information is transitory since students might include and remove scholarships from their shortlist, and once students complete the applications, scholarships saved are removed from the shortlist. 42 Portal survey.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

29%

Percentage

5%

Society and CultureHealth

17%

7%4%

26%

12%

Management

and Commerce

11%

3%

Education

5%

Creative Arts

Listed scholarships on the Portal Unique on-rails searches

Area of study*

* This analysis is only for scholarships that are eligible for students from a single area of study. These scholarships make up 31 percent of all scholarships. This analysis did not include scholarships with multiple areas of study (23% of scholarships) and scholarships that are eligible to students across all areas of study, including all areas of study excluding non-award (46% of scholarships).

Indigenous

specific scholarships

are the most important

scholarship search criteria

for users.38


5.4 The number of total Newsletter subscribers has increased

Since the start of the evaluation in mid-2015 the total number of Newsletter subscribers has increased by

26 per cent, from 3,500 to over 4,400 subscribers at the start of 2018.43 The increase in subscribers has

resulted in an increase in the number of Newsletters that Aurora has successfully delivered to subscribers

through their email subscription model. While the total number of successful deliveries have increased,

this has not translated into an increase in active subscribers. An active subscriber is someone who either

opens the Newsletter or opens the Newsletter and clicks through a link in the Newsletter. On both metrics

the total number has decreased since mid-2015.

Figure 10 demonstrates these trends. It outlines per quarter the total number of successful deliveries, total

number of deliveries that were opened and the number of opened deliveries in which a subscriber clicked

a link.44

Figure 10 | User engagement with the Newsletter

Even though the Newsletter has experienced a decline in active users, it does seem to offer Aurora an

important channel to engage its key users. Newsletter subscribers noted that they value the information

that they receive through the Newsletter and almost 75 per cent of Portal survey respondents45 stated

they are highly likely to recommend it to a family member, friend or colleague. Survey respondents

particularly found the Newsletter a valuable mechanism to receive information about scholarships that

were closing soon.

Aurora plans to create an independent Portal Newsletter before the end of 2018. Aurora should monitor

whether a stand-alone Portal Newsletter affects the number of active subscribers.

43 We have used the total number of successful deliveries to email addresses as the number of Newsletter subscribers. This is less than

the total number of recipients of the Newsletter as some email addresses are no longer active. 44 Nous analysis of the Indigenous Scholarship Portal Newsletter data (Aurora Education Foundation). 45 Of the 58 people who completed the Portal survey, 25 people said they were a current subscriber of the Newsletter.

10,586

7,268

11,333 11,494 11,638

8,298

13,20812,963 12,826

13,74113,313

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

2017 Q42015 Q4**

Newsletter emails / web links

2016 Q1 2017 Q3

%

2016 Q4**2015 Q3 2016 Q2 2016 Q3 2017 Q1 2017 Q2 2018 Q1

Total opened*Total clicked^^ Successful deliveries^

7% (246)

8% (148) 6%

(157)

8% (251)

7% (196) 5%

(147)

5% (139)

6% (184) 3%

(107)

6% (105)

5% (137)

48% (3,351)

37% (1,938)

33% (2,746)

42% (3,314)

30% (2,978) 28%

(2,809) 25% (2,540)

33% (2,849) 31%

(3,221) 30%

(1,887) 25% (2,653)

^ – Successful deliveries refers to Newsletters that were successfully delivered to subscriber emails.* – Total opened refers to all Newsletter emails that were opened by a subscriber.^^ – Total clicked refers to all successfully delivered emails that a subscriber opened and clicked through a link in the Newsletter.

** – A Newsletter was not sent in December 2015 and December 2016.


6 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is an

effective and valued resource

The sustained increase in engagement with the Portal, in terms of scholarships listed, unique visitors and

users who have engaged with the Portal’s new functionality, demonstrates that the Portal has achieved

considerable coverage and is an effective and influential resource. It also indicates that Aurora is on its way

to achieving the Portal’s aim: to increase Indigenous students’ access to financial support and resources so

they are better able to achieve their education and career aspirations.

The Portal improves awareness of scholarship opportunities and generates knowledge about available

sources of financial support for Indigenous students. The Portal achieves this because it:

• is used by a significant proportion of Indigenous students and their families

• is a unique, relevant and effective directory of scholarship information

• may motivate and enable scholarship applications

• is a culturally safe and appropriate online resource

• is a unique channel for scholarship providers.

This section outlines the key aspects of the Portal that have contributed to Aurora’s success.

6.1 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal reaches a sizeable

proportion of Indigenous students

The reach of the Portal’s coverage is significant. Figure 11 illustrates that in the first quarter of 2018 the

Portal had 15,030 unique visitors, which is almost equivalent to:

• 90 percent of the number of Indigenous Australians who attended an Australian university or other

tertiary institution in 2016 (17,815)46

• 60 percent of the combined total (25,250) of Indigenous Australians who attended an Australian

university or other tertiary institution (rounded down to 17,500) and potential Indigenous Australian

students (approximately 7,750).47

It also illustrates that:

• unique on-rails users are equivalent to almost 25 per cent of Indigenous Australians who attended an

Australian university or other tertiary institution

• the Portal user accounts are equivalent to over 5 of Indigenous Australians who attended an Australian

university or other tertiary institution.

when compared with the number of current Indigenous students and potential Indigenous students.

It is important to recognise that unique users may be either students who directly use the Portal or their

support networks, including parents, guardians and career support workers, who access the Portal on

behalf of students.

46 Department of Education, 2016 Full Year Student Summary, 2017. 47 Ibid. We have used the average number of commencing Indigenous students across 2015 and 2016 to approximate the number of potential

Indigenous students. This could include both Year 12 graduate students and mature age students.


Figure 11 | The extent of Portal usage48

The Portal’s coverage probably extends beyond the 15,030 unique visitors and 5,940 unique on-rails users.

If it is assumed that a unique visitor shares the scholarship opportunities that they find on the Portal with

one or two friends, the Portal’s coverage likely extends to between 30,000 and 45,000 current and

potential Indigenous students across tertiary education.

Several survey respondents who were students said they share the scholarships they find on the Portal

with their direct group of friends. Stakeholders who use the Portal to support Indigenous students

highlighted through both interviews and the survey that they share the scholarships they find on the

Portal with the entire network of students that they support.49 As outlined in section 4.2, IHEUs were the

main avenue through which survey respondents heard about the Portal for the first time. This reflects the

potential increase in reach the Portal achieves through IHEUs and other stakeholders who support

Indigenous students.

6.2 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is a unique, relevant and

effective directory of scholarship information

The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is unique, not only due to its functionality but also its focus on

Indigenous students’ needs (as outlined in section 3.2). There is no other comprehensive resource for

48 Indigenous Scholarship Portal listings (Aurora Education Foundation). ^As of 18 April 2018. *Higher education student enrollment and EFTSL (Equivalent Full-time Student Load) summary tables for the 2017 first half year, Department of Education, April 2018. 49 Portal survey.

1,411Portal user accounts^

15,030unique visitors to the

website in quarter one 2018

5,940unique on-rails users

~17,500Indigenous Australians attending university or

other tertiary institution*

~7,750Indigenous Australians considering study at a

university or other tertiary institution*

The Indigenous Scholarship Portal’s

coverage


Indigenous students that effectively lists scholarships in a content hierarchy (Indigenous eligibility, then

location, then subject) that responds to their interests, needs and personal circumstances.

The Portal is also relevant as it introduces students to financial opportunities that can help them access

university and succeed at university. Through the Portal’s centralised listing Indigenous students who visit

the Portal develop a wider understanding of scholarship opportunities and educational pathways.

This is particularly important for Portal users from regional areas who may not have access to knowledge

or opportunities that metropolitan users do. Section 5.3 showed that regional users of the Portal’s ‘on-

rails’ questions were more common than metropolitan users. It also highlighted the relevance of the

Portal’s content, specifically the comprehensive listing of Indigenous specific scholarships, which Portal

users value above all other criteria.

The Portal is an effective directory of scholarship information. Eight out of ten

respondents strongly agreed or agreed that the Portal meets their needs and

think that it is very easy or easy to find the information or content they look

for on the Portal.50 Student survey responses provide further evidence of the

effectiveness of the Portal. Eight out of 10 students who responded to the

Portal survey strongly agreed or agreed that the Portal improved their access

to scholarship opportunities and increased their awareness of other resources

to support them to complete tertiary study.51

Additionally, the Portal has a positive impact on the ability of other

stakeholders to support Indigenous students find scholarships and other

financial opportunities. Scholarship providers and IHEUs considered the Portal a unique and valuable

resource.52 Members of an IHEU stated that they promote the Portal to students regularly because it is the

most comprehensive resource available for students to search for

scholarships. They also noted that students who face financial constraints

would often feel less overwhelmed after they used the Portal. This was

because students were able to see the number of opportunities available to

them, particularly the number of external scholarships.53

Non-student survey results provide further evidence of the positive impact

that the Portal has for non-student users of the Portal. Nine out of ten non-

student respondents strongly agreed or agreed that the Portal increased

their awareness of financial resources for Indigenous students, improved

their ability to support Indigenous students to access scholarship

opportunities, and increased their awareness of other resources available to

support Indigenous students to complete tertiary study.54

6.3 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal improves access to

appropriate scholarship information and may motivate and

enable scholarship applications

The Portal plays a pivotal role in the ‘Search’ stage when potential or current students, or their support

network, search for financial assistance to address financial constraints. Aurora has also extended the reach

of the Portal towards the ‘Need’ and ‘Apply’ stage. This functionality (of creating individual profiles where

students can record information, and save documents required for scholarship applications) is quite well

leveraged and users have shortlisted over 4,000 scholarships through their user profiles. Figure 12

illustrates the Portal’s place within a basic student journey to access financial support.

50 Ibid. 51 Portal survey (n=32). 52 Portal consultations. 53 Ibid. 54 Portal survey (n=26 students).

8 in 10 survey

respondents strongly

agreed or agreed

that the Portal is very

easy or easy to find

information and

content.43

9 in 10 non-student

survey respondents

strongly agreed or

agreed that the Portal

increased their

awareness of financial

resources for

Indigenous students.47


The evaluation confirms the Portal increases Indigenous students’ access to information about financial

support and other resources. It is less clear if gaining access to information about financial support and

other resources motivates and supports students to apply for scholarships, or if they are successful in their

applications.

As outlined in section 3.2, the Portal provides functionality that simplifies the scholarship application

process, however, this functionality is only available for scholarships that are directly managed through the

Portal and almost all applications for scholarships listed on the Portal occur on external scholarship sites.

So far Aurora has managed only a small number of scholarship opportunities, including both Aurora

managed scholarships and external scholarships. Aurora is unable to track scholarship application activity

beyond click through data for the external scholarship sites nor the number of successful applications that

the Portal may have influenced.

Figure 12 | Student journey to access financial support

There are indications that the Portal does motivate and enable scholarship applications based on limited

data and a small survey sample size. Over 70 per cent of student survey respondents strongly agreed or

agreed that the Portal had motivated them to apply for scholarships opportunities.55 However, only a small

number indicated that they had applied for a scholarship that they found through the Portal. Less than five

percent of respondents indicated that they had successfully received a scholarship that they had applied

for through the Portal.56

One student respondent to the Portal survey described that the Portal had increased her knowledge of

accommodation scholarships for interstate universities. This motivated her to successfully apply for the

scholarships, which allowed her to move interstate to study in her preferred course. Another survey

respondent indicated that the Portal had motivated them to ‘go out and explore options that benefit my

future.’57 Members of an IHEU provided anecdotal evidence of students at their university who had applied

for external scholarships that they found through the Portal.58

55 Portal survey. 56 This number increased to 50 per cent for undergraduate students and reduced to 20 per cent for postgraduate students. 57 Portal consultations. 58 Ibid.

UnsuccessfulIf unsuccessful students

need to continue to search for financial

assistance; some may

quit university

AspirePotential students

consider University as a

post-school pathway

NeedPotential or current

students and / or their

support network identify financial

constraints to university

access or success

SearchPotential or current

students and / or their support network search

for financial assistance

ApplyStudents apply for

financial assistance e.g. scholarships

1 2 3 4

SuccessfulIf successful students

could continue to search for more

opportunities; students

are likely to continue

5

The Portal’s place within the

student journey


6.4 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is a culturally safe online

environment

A core part of Aurora’s approach is to develop a culturally safe online

environment.59 This environment ensures the content, design and functionality

of the Portal address the specific needs of Indigenous students, their families

and communities.

Stakeholders across all the consultations agreed that the Portal was responsive

to the cultural needs of Indigenous students.60 One stakeholder highlighted

that the emphasis on success stories, case studies and aspiration was an

effective way to connect with Portal users through storytelling. A scholarship

provider found the Portal team was culturally responsive and sensitive to the

needs of Indigenous students. Another scholarship provider reported that they sought the trusted advice

of Aurora to ensure their scholarship listings were culturally appropriate and for a referral for a provider to

deliver cultural awareness training at their organisation.61

The Portal is a comprehensive information resource that promotes a significant number of Indigenous-

specific scholarships, which enhances the Portal’s relevance and cultural safety. Further, over 75 per cent of

survey respondents were highly likely to recommend the Portal to a friend, family member, peer or

colleague,62 indicating there is a high level of trust in the Portal’s content.

6.5 The Indigenous Scholarships Portal is a unique channel for

scholarship providers

The Portal is a unique resource – which is equally true for scholarship providers as it is for students and

other stakeholders who use the Portal to support Indigenous students. For scholarship providers

(particularly non-university scholarship providers) the Portal is a comprehensive channel to reach


Most enquiries that the Portal team receive are from scholarship providers who would like to post their

scholarships on the Portal.63 The Portal team builds relationships with scholarship providers through their

tailored service and scholarship providers often engage the Portal team to decide the best approach to

promote their scholarships. As one scholarship provider stated, ‘I can pick up the phone and call Aurora,

and know they have the information.’64

Although there were limited consultations with scholarship providers, those consultations were

overwhelmingly positive and provided important insight into the needs and motivations of scholarship

providers. One stakeholder said that they would not have been able to find eligible students for their

scholarship opportunities without the Portal. 65 This stakeholder also received expert advice from the

Portal team on how they should design their scholarship opportunities, including the eligibility criteria.

As outlined in section 3.2, there has been a significant increase in private investment to support

Indigenous advancement in education and employment. The Portal offers private, philanthropic and

government organisations a unique resource to reach Indigenous students.

59 Cultural safety is defined by the Australian Human Rights Commission as, ‘An environment that is safe for people: where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning, living and working together with dignity and truly listening.’ Chapter 4: Cultural safety and security: Tools to address lateral violence, Social Justice Report, 2011. 60 Portal consultations. 61 Ibid. 62 Portal survey. 63 Portal consultations. 64 Ibid. 65 Ibid.

‘The Portal team

offers a valuable,

culturally responsive

and personalised

service.’54

Scholarship provider.


7 Aurora can build on the success of the

Indigenous Scholarships Portal to play a greater

role in scholarship applications

Aurora has developed an effective and valued resource for a considerable population. The Portal increases

Indigenous students’ access to financial support and resources, so they are better able to achieve their

education and career aspirations. Aurora has an opportunity to build on the success it has already

achieved and to cement its expertise and leadership within Indigenous education, specifically in how to

support Indigenous student’s access higher education and be successful.

The overarching recommendation is for Aurora to assess strategic opportunities and clarify the Portal’s

strategic focus to achieve greater impact. Once Aurora has clarified their strategic focus, they should

consider the following recommendations that could improve the Portal’s effectiveness and impact:

• Improve tools to better understand user preferences and expectations.

• Refine Portal design and functionality to enable students to improve the user experience.

• Improve engagement with partners and academic networks to increase awareness and impact.

• Develop functionality to increase the Portal’s appeal for scholarship providers.

7.1 Assess strategic opportunities and clarify the Portal’s

strategic focus to achieve greater impact

Aurora has met its fundamental objective to create a central resource of financial assistance and similar

opportunities for Indigenous students. Aurora identified an important gap in the market and have

successfully filled that gap. As outlined in section 6, the Portal is a unique, valued and effective resource

for multiple stakeholders, including students and their families, IHEUs and other stakeholders who support

Indigenous students, and scholarship providers.

The Portal’s growth and success places Aurora at a cross roads regarding the strategic focus of the Portal.

The Portal operates in a resource constrained environment while Aurora continues to rely on short-term

grants for the ongoing sustainability of the Portal. Aurora has already taken steps to address this challenge

and will complete the Macquarie Foundation Kick Starter program to support them develop a business

plan and improve the Portal’s financial sustainability. Aurora should use both the outcomes of the Kick

Starter program and the recommendations of this evaluation to clarify the Portal’s strategic focus,

including what key opportunities the Portal should focus on in the short to medium term.

Subject to the business plan that Aurora develops and how it secures funding into the future, Aurora could

consider the following strategic opportunities to increase the impact of the Portal. The opportunities align

with the potential to expand the Portal’s functionality for the various stakeholder groups, including

students, IHEUs and other career/study guidance roles and scholarship providers, who engage most with

the Portal.

Greater strategic clarity will provide focus to the Portal team’s activities and help to prioritise

improvements to the design and functionality of the Portal. Table 2 outlines four strategic focus areas, and

their potential outcomes, for Aurora to consider.


Table 2 | Key opportunities and potential outcomes

Recommendation

Review the opportunities for greater impact identified by the evaluation against the Portal’s updated

business plan and refresh the Portal’s strategic direction to focus activities and prioritise

improvements.

7.2 Improve tools to better understand user preferences and

expectations

Portal users have reported high levels of satisfaction with the Portal and its functionality. However, the

broad range of preferences and expectations of Portal users who look for scholarships are unclear. It is

also unclear what the users most want from a resource that helps them to access supports to achieve

further education.

There is some evidence to indicate a portion of users would benefit from further assistance to determine if

they should and how they should apply for scholarships. As outlined in section 4.2, the Portal team

receives an average of 20 enquiries per month, including enquiries from users who search for scholarships

on the Portal. At present users can access additional information through a resources link on the top right

of the Portal. In consultations, stakeholders identified this as a limitation as the resources link was not

Key opportunity Potential outcomes Level of

potential

impact

Expand the Portal’s functionality so that it

encourages and facilitates scholarship

applications (see section 7.2 for further detail).

The Portal better meets the needs of students and

more students receive scholarships.

Aurora can track the number of Scholarships and

associated dollar amount won by students who

use the Portal.

Aurora can more effectively measure the depth of

the Portal’s impact.

High

Improve the functionality and accessibility of

the Portal for IHEUs, career advisors, parents,

and guardians, and others who support

Indigenous students (see section 7.4).

IHEUs and other stakeholders increasingly access

and use the Portal, including new custom

functionality, to increase its reach and impact.

Through this increase in access by IHEUs, students

will be better supported e.g. setting up user

accounts for IHEU staff so that they can track

scholarship opportunities for their students

directly through the Portal

Potential to align new functionality with potential

revenue streams.

Medium to high

Engage more with scholarships providers to

develop added functionality and accessibility

for scholarship providers (see section 7.5).

Scholarship providers increasingly engage Aurora

for additional services.

The number of scholarships managed through the

Portal increases.

Potential to increase current and develop new

revenue streams.

Medium


easily recognisable as a location to find additional information.66 Aurora is also unable to track

scholarship application activity beyond click through data for the external scholarship sites (see section

6.3) and the number of successful applications that the Portal may have influenced.

Aurora should explore and implement approaches to understand user needs and preferences so that it can

better understand the depth of the Portal’s impact. This will also allow Aurora to prioritise the additional

services, content and functionality it develops so that it meets the expectations of its users. New

functionality should include ways for Aurora to track the actions of its users.

Aurora has completed research into Scholly, a US based scholarship search tool and College scholarship

finder app. Scholly includes functionality that allows users to not only save scholarships to a shortlist but

also indicate whether they have won the scholarship and the scholarship amount. This functionality allows

Scholly to track the depth of their impact. Aurora should also consider ways it can better engage users to

gain feedback. This could include:

• making the feedback form on the Portal more visible to users, for example by transforming it into

scrolling text

• incentivising the current pop-up survey (for example) ‘all survey responses go in the draw to win one

of 20 gold class movie vouches’

• exploring other approaches, including mobile surveys for registered users, to gather user feedback.

Recommendation

Develop site functionality to understand user preferences and impact to better meet the needs of


Implement approaches to improve the amount and quality of user feedback to better understand

users’ needs.

7.3 Refine Portal design and functionality to improve the user

experience

Aurora have identified several Portal developments that are currently underway or are planned for the

near future that would improve the current functionality of the Portal.67 Developments include improving

the look and feel of the Portal, matching and data integrity, exploring social media and advertising

functionalities, enabling more scholarships to be listed on the Portal, and promoting career pathway

opportunities such as internships, cadetships, and the graduate programs. Aurora identified an

opportunity to expand scholarship listings to include more VET and high school scholarships and to make

enabling and pathway programs, including mentoring and summer/winter programs, more visible. Aurora

is also currently migrating additional resources for students from the old TAI website across to the Portal.

Aurora will then map the best way to present this information to different audiences to improve user

access to information.

Stakeholders also identified several potential improvements that are not included in the Portal project

plan. Consultations with TAI and Outreach programs indicated Aurora could better target the Portal to

high school students, particularly the on-rails questions. IHEUs identified the opportunity to adapt the on-

rails questions for users who use the Portal to search for scholarships on behalf of students.68 Stakeholders

also identified that Aurora could design the Portal to more explicitly encourage students to create a Portal

account on their first visit to the Portal. Lastly, Aurora could explore how they can make simple

66 Portal consultations. 67 Aurora’s Portal project plan 2018–19 (Aurora Education Foundation). 68 Portal consultations.


information that addresses frequently asked questions more accessible for Portal users, either through a

static FAQ page, interactive chat bot or both.

Table 3 outlines a list of additional improvements that Aurora should consider alongside the current and

planned improvements. The table outlines the improvement, the purpose of the improvement and the

level of potential impact the proposed improvement will have on the effectiveness and impact of the

Portal. Aurora should only consider these improvements once it has clarified the strategic direction of the

Portal.

Table 3 | List of added improvements to the Portal by level of potential impact

7.4 Improve engagement with partners and academic networks

to increase awareness and impact

The Portal is a unique and important service that already achieves good reach. However, there is an

opportunity to further increase awareness and influence of the portal both among those who promote

scholarships and resources to students and those who offer scholarships.

The primary opportunity is to further increase awareness among students through stakeholders who

provide support and advice to students about scholarships and other forms of financial assistance. As

outlined in section 4.2, IHEUs were the most common channel through which survey respondents heard of

the Portal for the first time. However, it appears that Aurora does not have long-term relationships with

IHEUs. For the evaluation, Aurora were only able to secure one interview with an IHEU through their prior

contacts and most other IHEUs did not respond to phone and email requests for interviews.

This highlights the notable absence of proactive relationship management with key stakeholders.

Engagement with stakeholders is often focused around key milestones, such as the soft launch of the

Portal, and is mostly reactive in nature. No matter what strategic direction Aurora choose to take, a greater

Improvement Purpose Level of potential impact

Adapt the on-rails questions

to suit different user needs

To improve the effectiveness of the Portal and the

user experience for each of the key stakeholder

groups.

High

Encourage users to create a

Portal account

To better understand the depth of the Portal’s

impact and to expand how users engage with the

Portal.

Medium to high

Develop a frequently asked

questions resource

To minimise time spent by the Portal team

responding to email enquiries, Aurora could develop

and then direct users to a page with frequently

asked questions.

Medium to high

Investigate chatbot

functionality

To provide interactive and dynamic responses to

user enquiries that could both reduce the time the

Portal team spends responding to enquiries and

improve the user experience.

Medium

Recommendation

Prioritise the current and proposed Portal updates to address the needs of students and achieve the

Portal’s refreshed strategic focus (see recommendation 1).


focus on stakeholder engagement could increase the reach and awareness of content on the Portal. It will

also be critical to enable the Portal’s broad functionality, including the scholarship application functionality

for scholarship providers. Increasing brand awareness will also be important to ensure the Portal does not

become obsolete if other websites begin to compete with Aurora for website traffic.

In the near-term Aurora could develop a formal relationship management approach with IHEUs across

Australia, as opposed to the current focus on Sydney and Melbourne based universities. This activity could

replace time that the Portal team currently spend responding to enquiries as enquiry management could

be automated. Table 3 at Section 7.2 lists chatbot functionality and a frequently asked questions page as

two potential ways to automate enquiry management.

Aurora could also consider additional functionality that supports IHEU team members to better support

their students through the Portal. One stakeholder identified the opportunity to develop user accounts for

stakeholders who support students so that they can interact with their students through the Portal and

share relevant scholarships that they find for individual students or groups of students.

To increase awareness and influence among scholarship providers, Aurora could consider a strategic

partnership with an organisation like Reconciliation Australia. Aurora could use the strategic partnership to

build relationships with organisations across Australia who have set Stretch and Elevate Reconciliation

Action Plan targets, particularly employment targets that include initiatives to develop scholarships and

other financial support pathways for university students. Such a partnership could increase the amount of

content on the Portal and position Aurora to develop valuable relationships with scholarship providers

that could evolve into new revenue streams (as discussed in the following recommendation).

Recommendation

Consider ways to elevate stakeholder engagement with key stakeholders, including:

• formalising the Portal team’s relationship management with IHEUs across Australia

• developing new functionality so stakeholders who support students can engage with their

students through the Portal

• exploring strategic partnerships with employer aggregators, such as Reconciliation Australia.

7.5 Develop functionality to increase the Portal’s appeal for


Scholarship providers value the Portal as an important channel to reach Indigenous students, with one

scholarship provider stating ‘it can be hard to attract enough applicants to scholarships, so the Portal

increases visibility of scholarships’.69 Consultations also revealed that scholarship providers are increasingly

interested in building their own capabilities with regards to managing and administering their scholarships

on the Portal. A scholarship provider stated, ‘we don’t get much feedback from users of the Portal, so we

aren’t sure if we have seen an increase in applicants because of the Portal.’

Although there was limited consultation with scholarship providers, if Aurora chooses to pursue a strategic

direction that increases the focus on scholarship provider it should consider the insights from the

evaluation as a starting point to inform further market testing. Market testing should focus on the

functionality that will be most beneficial to scholarship providers. Particularly the functionality that

deepens scholarship providers’ ability to manage the scholarship application process. Aurora will need to

address privacy and security concerns if it does open the platform to deeper engagement with other

stakeholders. Table 4 outlines a list of potential improvements that could increase the Portal’s appeal.

69 Portal consultations.


Table 4 | Potential improvements to increase the Portal’s appeal for scholarship providers

Recommendation

Consider improvements to the Portal’s functionality that improve the user experience of scholarship

providers.

70 Portal consultations. 71 Ibid.

Improvement Reason for improvement

Build analytics that are

accessible for


Consultations revealed scholarship providers would like to know who has viewed their

scholarships, where students drop off in the application process and insights into why the

student quit the application at that certain point. One scholarship provider explained that

this type of analytic capability is available through other websites such as Seek. They also

highlighted that analytics of this nature were necessary to build support among executive

management.70 Building analytics capability will also improve Aurora’s ability to

demonstrate to scholarship providers the Portal’s contribution to the number of

applications.

Build functionality to

include scholarship

provider and funding

body branding on the

Portal

Consultations revealed that scholarship providers would like to personalise aspects of

their scholarship listing. Aurora could support this through embedded media and

opportunities to include the organisation’s branding.

Aurora could also explore co-branding and cross-promotional opportunities through

strategic partnerships that were explored in section 7.4

Develop scholarship

provider user accounts

Consultations with scholarship providers revealed they would like to manage their own

scholarships through the Portal. This would allow them to track student applications.71

Scholarship providers would also like the option to assist applicants with system issues,

such as uploading documents.

To address these needs, Aurora could consider whether it is feasible to develop

scholarship provider user accounts. A user account would provide scholarship providers

access to search functionality and editing privileges on the Portal.

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