Soumi Gopalakrishnan dreams of becoming a doctor, but despite finishing top of her school, she probably won't be able to go to university next year.

"I really don't have any options," Soumi,19, said, wiping away tears.

"I'm doing everything, literally I'm doing everything I can do and still at the end of the day I'm like 'where is this going to take me?'.

"I was just thinking of my life — it's still not enough to prove that I'm allowed to live here."

Four years ago, Soumi was on a rickety old fishing boat with her family, headed for Christmas Island.

As Sri Lankan Tamils, her family says they were forced to flee persecution by the Sinhalese.

"It was cramped, it was a small fishing boat and there were more than 100 of us. There was a pregnant woman, there were elderly people … infants — we all starved," she said.

"It was a life-changing thing, it could have went the other way and we could have all died but we got here and hoping we could have a better lifestyle, just to live."

In Australia they were placed on bridging visas. The family then applied for Safe Haven visas but were rejected and the courts are now deciding their fate.

Soumi was school captain at St James College and won a swag of academic awards. ( ABC News: Leonie Mellor )

This year Soumi finished Year 12 as Dux of St James College in inner-city Brisbane, where she was also school captain and collected a swag of academic awards.

She also completed two university subjects under the Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) scholarship for high-achieving Year 12s.

"The workload was crazy," Soumi said.

Refugee status puts uni hopes at risk

But despite her stellar achievements, Soumi's only hope of going to university is through winning a full scholarship — they are rare for people with her background.

Otherwise, asylum seekers are classed as international full-fee paying students, which means they do not have access to HECS.

They pay much more than domestic students and have to pay fees upfront.

"Some of my courses that I applied for, it's over $100,000 a year and it goes for five years and I have to pay up front and I still can't figure out how that's going to happen," Soumi said.

In Queensland only QUT offers full tuition scholarships for asylum seekers and Griffith has options for refugees.

Interstate, there are only a handful of universities who provide full scholarships to those seeking asylum.

But Soumi is trying every one.

Soumi may not be able to afford tertiary education despite graduating top of her class. ( Supplied: Josephine Booth )

The decision to flee Sri Lanka has split her close-knit family.

Her father, a jeweller, now works in the Rockhampton meatworks, returning to Brisbane only a few times a year.

Her two older sisters both work in a stationery factory in Melbourne.

Soumi knows that is her likely future too if she cannot find a way to attend university.

The thought of not being able to continue her education played on Soumi's mind when she recently received multiple awards at the school's award ceremony.

"It is very hard," she said.

"I came home … and I called Dad and said, 'I got these awards' and he was crying because he wasn't there to experience it."

Her father made a special trip home for her graduation last week.

Soumi Gopalakrishnan and her mother are still waiting for the courts to decide their fate. ( ABC News: Leonie Mellor )

"I was so proud and so blessed … because graduating Year 12 was one of my dreams," Soumi said.

"It's not just making my life better … it's also making my parents' life better and also I want to be an inspiration to all the refugee and asylum seekers students."

Family has 'given the school far more'

St James College principal Gerry Crooks said Soumi had been a wonderful example to other asylum seekers at the school.

"She and the family have a wonderful sense of resilience about them," he said.

"They saw this opportunity and they came to us as a way of trying to put that dream into some sort of action for their lives, give themselves some sort of direction."

The college did not charge school fees to Soumi and her siblings and also provided free Go Cards to enable them to travel to school.

"The school has obviously played a very significant part in getting them to where they are, but it's been a privilege for us. I think they've given the school far more than we could ever give them as a family," Mr Crooks said.

Mr Crooks said it was crucial for all children to have an opportunity for education. ( ABC News: Leonie Mellor )

Many of the school's students are asylum seekers or from refugee backgrounds. Because they are over 18 they are unable to access state-provided education.

"We've got to make sure we provide those opportunities for kids, give them a sense of hope," he said.

But he said universities needed to do more.

"[Universities] have an obligation to offer opportunities for these young people, because Australia's going to benefit in the long run anyway," he said.

QUT has just added three scholarships specifically for people on temporary protection, bridging, or safe haven visas, and those experiencing financial hardship.

Provost, Professor Carol Dickenson said the university had become increasingly concerned at the number of asylum seekers in Australia.

"I don't believe there are many, if any, of these scholarships available at the moment," she said.

"We also know there's quite a lot of asylum seekers in the school system and we hope that this will encourage them to consider coming to a university and that they will benefit from it."

Soumi Gopalakrishnan fled with her family to Christmas Island. ( Supplied: Josephine Booth )

Generosity to family 'amazing'

Soumi, her mother and younger brother are this week packing up their Newmarket home, provided to them by a Brisbane doctor who wants to remain anonymous.

They are moving to Melbourne so the family can be reunited, but the generosity they have experienced is not lost on them.

"Especially my school because they have provided everything for me — free education, free transport, everything — it's amazing," Soumi said.

"This house is amazing because without these kind of people, I don't think we would be able to survive here."