Bursary gives boost

By Sara O'Dacre

odac0004@algonquincollege.com

The Bursary for Students with Disabilities is giving people a promising chance for a more enjoyable learning opportunity, leading to greater academic success.

“It makes a difference in a person’s life,” said Louise Legault, manager of the Centre for Students with Disabilities.

Legault explained how the bursary can cover educational costs for the student, as well as tutoring services. It won’t, however, cover things like books, tuition or living expenses.

“Our role is to determine whether the student has the disability, and if their costs can be covered by it,” said Legault.

Leigh Rowsell, a counsellor at the Centre for Students with Disabilities explained how the bursary can be useful to cover expensive equipment and software, such as “text to voice software, and voice to text software.”

Rowsell said she remembered the bursary being available when she was a student at Algonquin in the early ‘90s.

In order to apply, the student must first be able to prove that they are disabled.

“They have to have the proper documentation,” said Linda Fielding, manager of Financial Aid.

Also, Legault explained that if the student is ineligible for the Ontario Student Assistance Program, then they can’t get the bursary. Students must go through the process of applying for OSAP first.

“Students aren’t obligated to take the loan, they only need to be eligible,” explained Legault.

She said the Centre for Students with Disabilities is currently working on ways to make this process easier for students.

The bursary has worked wonders for many at Algonquin, according to Fielding. She has received positive feedback from students about how it has helped them in their studies and the program is “evolving” all the time.