Female veterinary medicine students at the University of Sydney are outraged they are being excluded from a new scholarship program which prioritises male applicants.

The Professor Marsh Edwards AO scholarship is worth nearly $30,000 for the recipient, who must be enrolled in the doctor of veterinary medicine degree.

The successful applicant will receive $6750 a year throughout the duration of the four-year degree.

But there is a catch.

"Preference will be given to male applicants who are from rural and regional areas with an interest in large animal practice and intended to work in rural veterinary science," a release from the university states.

A female doctor of veterinary medicine student, speaking under the condition of anonymity, told Fairfax Media that she was surprised by the move and initially thought it was a clerical error.

"Female graduates of vet school are still paid less, from day one," she said.

"I just think it shows very little thought into the causative agents of under-representation of women in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths]. The barriers that prevent men from entering vet science are not the same barriers that prevent women from entering every single other academic area."

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Another female student told Daily Mail Australia that she was shocked upon reading the scholarship eligibility requirements.

"It makes me think that they care more about money than my right to equal opportunities," she said.

When questioned over the preferential status given to male applicants, Danny Sun, who heads the university's scholarships office, likened the move grants that "discriminate" against non-Aboriginal students.

Mr Sun is reported to have made the comparison with one of the University of Sydney student representative council women's officer Katie Thorbun, according to The Guardian Australia .

Mr Sun allegedly claimed the move was permissible under the university's charitable status.

However, the university has hit back at the claim the scholarship is sexist and have pointed to a gender imbalance in veterinary science students - who were "overwhelmingly female".

"Of this year’s graduate entry for the doctor of veterinary medicine students over 90 percent of the intake is expected to be female. This is a trend seen over the past five years along with an increasing trend away from rural practice," a statement read.