The university said at the time that it had “made an error in its interpretation of unsatisfactory process ... which has no doubt caused distress for many students”.

But the policy has continued.

The student union has been inundated with another 60 or so students whose scholarships were cut on the first day of semester two this year. The extra thousands of dollars in fees were due just 10 days later.

Two sources at the university,speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to speak publicly,said they understood Swinburne had recouped millions of dollars from the scheme,though concerns about the method had been elevated to the university council.

“It’s robo-debt for scholarships,all run from this black-box email,” student union president Kishaun Aloysius said.

After questions from this masthead,Swinburne said it would “amend the terms and conditions for the 2024 international scholarships program”,improving the policy for future cohorts – though not ending it outright.

Swinburne has also commissioned “an external review” of the appeals process,including advocacy.

“We know that some of our international student scholarship recipients had difficulties maintaining their academic requirements,which was a condition of their scholarship,and the processes for advising students of changes fell short of expectations,” a spokeswoman said. “We have taken those learnings.”

Students said they didn’t realise that a clause in the fine print stating the university “reserves the right” to terminate a scholarship if a student’s mark falls below an 80 or 70 per cent average meant they would automatically be struck off.

Other universities have no such policy and many students only need a 60 per cent average to qualify for a scholarship – usually worth tens of thousands of dollars – in the first place.

Swinburne gave them just 10 days and very strict conditions to appeal via email only,though official university policy allows 21 days and usually offers students support and other options before termination.

The university did not say why it had initiated the scheme,how much money it had recouped,or how many students were affected.

Many requests for appeal were knocked back,despite medical evidence of illness. One student,who had previously maintained a high distinction average of 80 per cent,was recovering from tuberculosis. Another suffered a serious mental health condition,but letters from his doctors were rejected. He was forced to move to another Melbourne university where he could get a scholarship.

“I tried to send all the documents through explaining why I’d had to go back home to see my aunt,” said Nguyen,whose aunt had died since she received the termination email in July. “I just got this automatic response back saying it wasn’t enough to overturn the decision.”

The official campus advocacy service for students is itself owned by the university and managed in part by Swinburne executives. In correspondence obtained by this masthead,advocates declined to assist with scholarship appeals,referring students,including Nguyen,back to the initial email.

“And that was just like a chatbot,” Nguyen said. “I don’t think a human even read my emails.”

A recent survey of about 100 affected students conducted by the union found some needed mental health support or had gone into debt because of the cuts. Students said they had previously been reassured by university staff they just had to pass all their subjects to keep the scholarship,which many called a “lifeline”.

Higher education expert Andrew Norton said many universities had offered more scholarships during the pandemic to draw back international students. But,now the students have largely returned to our shores,“they might be caught out with a lot less scholarships”.

The student union says it highlights a bigger problem with governance at Swinburne,which,unlike other universities,owns and operates many of the student services on campus. Swinburne says it is co-designing a new single student body with the union and other groups,but did not say if the organisation would be majority student-run.

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