UNI’S $5M GIFT TO STUDENTS
A GOLD Coast university is forking out $5 million to help struggling students through coronavirus hardships.
More than 2200 students at Griffith University have been granted a cash gift of up $1500 each as they navigate financial pitfalls.
Vice chancellor and President Professor Carolyn Evans said of the university’s Student Support Bursary: “Over the course of my career, I have never seen a more difficult time for students, with many losing their only source of income to support themselves.”
MATURE age student Bryn Martin thought her jump into full-time university had gone from hard to impossible when the coronavirus health restrictions forced her classes online.
With only a prepaid internet plan at home, the new law student said she was on the brink of delaying her degree.
That was until Griffith University offered its struggling students a lifeline through its $5 million COVID-19 Student Support Bursary.
More than 2200 students like Ms Martin have been granted a cash payment, which they do not need to pay back, to help them adjust to studying at home or if they face financial hardship.
The $1500 bursary, which varies from student to student, allowed Ms Martin to sign up to a better internet provider and helped with bills as other funds dried up.
“I was very new on campus, just four weeks, putting the feelers out on my workload, if I could even do it when the coronavirus happened,” the mother of one said.
“The university moved us online so quickly with help and the support was already there. I was amazed that I could be so new, and yet they still wanted to help me.
“The process also wasn’t too invasive. I didn’t have to tell a sob story, just explain how this would improve my situation. I am so grateful.”
The university is also now taking public donations to the bursary to continue to help students under extreme financial pressure.
Vice Chancellor and President Professor Carolyn Evans said the bursary was just one scheme the university had introduced during the coronavirus shut down.
“Over the course of my career, I have never seen a more difficult time for students, with many losing their only source of income to support themselves,” she said.
“Griffith’s Student Support Bursary is one of many measures we have put in place offering up to $1500 each to assist our most atneed students.”
The university said it received thousands of applications for the bursary scheme within weeks and continued to sign on students.
In addition to the bursary, students can also access a computer loan program for those without a computer at home, along with scholarships and the addition of an interest-free student loan for the purchase of course materials and internet access.
The university, like others, is still teaching students online, off campus.