Bursaries help those in need

By Susan Schafer

scha0019@algonquincollege.com

For Algonquin student Chris Nicholson, receiving a student assistance bursary is like a kid waking up on Christmas morning.
“I mean it’s free money, in the sense you don’t have to pay it back,” said the third-year business administration marketing student.  “What student, or anyone for that matter, wouldn’t want to get money for free?”
And Nicholson is not alone.  He is one of 2,892 students who applied for this fall’s student assistance bursary.  And according to bursary program administrator Diane Cardinal, this number is always on the rise.

“Each term there is an increase in bursaries,” she said.  “And the reason I think that – I know for a fact is – because  students are receiving 60 per cent of their OSAP in the fall, and 40 per cent in the winter.”
But Cardinal notes that this increase in applicants is not necessarily a good thing.  Unfortunately, she said, the more students who apply, the less funds the college has to give.
This is a result of the bursaries having to be further spread among students, and each amount possibly having to be reduced.
One of the reasons both Cardinal and Nicholson note for the rise in applicants is the strength in marketing for the bursary, including posters, tent cards, and displays.

Cardinal said that students who do not apply isn’t because of a lack of marketing, and if someone misses it, they just aren’t paying attention. 
But despite all this, there still are students who are simply unaware of bursaries available to them.  First-year event management student Michele Comeau said that she never heard about the bursary, and that if she had she would have applied.

Unlike Comeau, Nicholson noted that he saw a lot of posters around the school and his peers were talking about it.  Luckily enough, he received the bursary along with many of his friends.
“Most of the people I know, I’d say nine out of 10 people got the bursary.”

One of these students, Richard Burnett, was working towards high school credits last year and received the assistance bursary which helped him pay his fees.  Next semester, Burnett will hope to start the college’s business program.
“I’ll probably apply [for the scholarship] in the winter,” he said.  “It’s very helpful.”
Cardinal said there are various factors that contribute to whether or not a student receives a bursary including program costs, financial need, and textbook prices.