Degrees Of Difficulty
Sun Herald
Sunday August 10, 2003
AS the cost of higher education spirals out of reach for many Australian school-leavers, others cling to one hope: the possibility of a university scholarship.
Scholarships were once an intrinsic part of the educational system. Bright students graduated from high school and won not only a scholarship usually requiring them to become, at least for a while, teachers but a bursary.
It was generous and made university education possible for a generation of smart children from low-income families.
The Whitlam Government abolished fees for higher education, and the need for scholarships, but in the past seven years, as Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) payments have climbed, scholarships are again fiercely contested.
Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee chief John Mullarvey said: ``Universities have noticed an overall increase in students struggling financially. In our response to the 2003 budget we have called for a general move to improve income support for all students on an equitable basis."
The May budget contained an announcement of 25,000 new Commonwealth scholarships for low-income students as part of a $160 million injection to soften the blow of higher fees. But these benefits may be under threat because of the Federal Government policy that will soon count scholarships as income, endangering other student benefits such as health care cards and youth allowances.
Most university scholarships are modest and can never completely cover learning and living expenses. They are often one-off payments of between $1000 and $3000, designed to help set up students with computers and textbooks a burden for poor students.
Others, however, can be up to $15,000 a year, enough for a student to live frugally for an academic year.
The benefits are not all one way. Universities offer scholarships often to lure high-scoring high school graduates, which boosts their own prestige.
``Universities want to be good corporate citizens," said Inta Heimanis , manager of the scholarships unit at the University of Sydney. ``We want to be able to attract the most able students and economic disadvantage should not stand in their way.
``Scholarships also help enhance the university's reputation."
Ms Heimanis said that in the past two years the number of applications for scholarships at Sydney had increased from about 1000 in 2000 to 1700 in 2002, reflecting in part the growing nationwide concern about barriers to attending university.
University of NSW scholarships manager Rosemary Plain said about 1000 UNSW students every year received some financial aid, ranging from annual grants of $1000 to fellowships worth up to $60,000 over four years.
Many of the most lucrative were in the science and engineering disciplines.
``The sciences tend to attract more funding because companies can identify a specific economic or market need," Ms Plain said.
The University of Western Sydney (UWS), which has recorded a 38 per cent increase in demand for its scholarships in just one year, also lures information technology students with a $15,000 industry-based Cisco scholarship. UWS, serving a region that incorporates vast differences in income, pitches much of its financial aid, such as ``merit equity" scholarships, toward disadvantaged students.
``We still demand high academic standards," marketing manager Angelo Kourtis said. ``But we also recognise there are many academically able people who, because of economic or social circumstances, have difficulty coming to university. We want our scholarships to liberate their time to concentrate on study."
The National Union of Students, representing the nation's undergraduates, wants the Government to restore scholarships like the old teachers' scholarships, especially in crucial areas, such as education and nursing.
NUS president Daniel Kyriacou supports a system that would require graduates to practise in these fields for five to six years, in return for the Government waiving HECS and providing living allowances.
Mr Kyriacou said: ``If given a choice between paying large fees or conditional scholarships in areas of national need, then I think you would find a lot of willing students."
© 2003 Sun Herald