Mr Melrose (31) will be among about 310 graduands in education, teaching and pharmacy who are graduating from the university at a 3pm ceremony at the Regent Theatre.
He hails from Invercargill, where he attended the former Cargill High School, coming to Dunedin in 2003 to set up a roofing company.
He was later employed for three years as a Sport Otago cycling development officer, working closely with schools and school pupils and realising there could be a career for him in teaching.
After three years of full-time study at the Otago University College of Education, graduation will be a family affair today.
His parents, Paul and Cheryl Melrose, and his sister Rachel have come up from Invercargill for the occasion and will be dining out with him tonight, and with many other friends and family members.
"It's pretty exciting.
"It feels like it's been a long time coming," he says.
It was going to be "really good" to have his studies completed and work full-time as a primary school teacher at Wanaka School next February.
This has been the most demanding of his three years of university study, with more time spent in placements, at Sacred Heart School in Northeast Valley, as well as academic assignments and an end-of-year examination.
"It's pretty full-on. It's quite a big workload."
And he praises his "pretty amazing" lecturers at the university college of education, who have made a big difference to his education.
"They're great. They've always got time to help."
Mr Melrose, who was recently appointed a New Zealand junior cycling selector, has a great deal of cycling experience, as a New Zealand junior representative, a junior and senior champion and a junior record-holder.
And he still cycles about 10 hours a week, finding it provides a welcome break from the pressures of study and helps him keep fit.
Teaching also offers opportunities to maintain and develop his interest in coaching.
He enjoyed his six years as a professional roofer, often working six days a week and 12 hours a day, although Dunedin was "quite hard in the winter".
But he is particularly enthusiastic about his new life as a teacher.
"You're always learning; you'll never know everything. You see these kids developing their own personalities and becoming their own people."
"It's quite rewarding to see them when they start to achieve and gain confidence."
