Tens of thousands of dollars worth of grants and scholarships for university and college courses in Australia go begging every year because no one applies for them, according to the Country Education Foundation of Australia (CEF).
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The CEF has released a guide to hundreds of scholarships worth over $100,000, in an effort to help rural and regional students tap into much needed financial assistance.
The rural not-for-profit’s CEO, Sarah Taylor, said the 2014 CEF Scholarship Listing included hundreds of scholarships (some worth up to $50,000pa) – many of which failed to attract applications.
The Guide can be accessed on the CEF website at: http://cef.org.au/students/scholarships/
“There are some great opportunities out there but students often don’t know about them and in many cases they simply don’t have the confidence to apply for them because they don’t think they’ll be successful,” Ms Taylor said.
“Last year, one NSW college offered three scholarships worth $120,000 and they didn’t get a single application,” she said, “And this is not an isolated case.”
“It’s very disappointing because every year there are thousands of disadvantaged rural and regional kids who miss out on higher education because of distance and cost.
“We’re determined not to let that happen again so we’ve pulled together the 2014 Scholarship Guide to everything on offer from our uni and college partners.
“Our message to every rural and regional student is to check out what’s on offer and apply, apply, apply!,” Ms Taylor said.
The CEF has over 20 university and college partners across Australia which they work with to provide assistance to disadvantage rural and regional students.
Together, these universities and colleges offer hundreds of scholarships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Rural and regional students face costs up to $20,000 per year (on top of HECS) for travel and living expenses when they leave their communities to pursue tertiary education.
There are over 40 local CEFs across Australia, each raising funds to help their local school leavers to overcome the disadvantages of distance which prevent them from pursuing education and career goals.
