Youth from Young receive a major boost from Sydney Uni

CEFA’s recent formation of an Education Partnership with the University of Sydney has already reaped great rewards with the awarding of University of Sydney Access Scholarships to two students from the NSW town of Young.  The partnership struck with the University of Sydney is a particularly generous one which supports qualifying students at the rate of $6,000 per annum for the duration of their enrolment in a University of Sydney degree.  It provides students with a total benefit of $18,000 for a 3 year degree, such as a Bachelor of Science, to $30,000 for a 5 year combined degree such as a Bachelor of Commerce/Law.

Jocellin Jansson, CEFA’s Executive Director explained that ‘In order to assist our local education foundation communities make their local grant dollar go further, we have established a growing number of Education Partnerships that provide an additional grant to CEFA students studying full time at a partner institution’.

Ms Jansson said that ‘CEFA grants are not academically based and in light of this we have established a diverse range of Education Partnerships comprising of TAFE colleges, private colleges and universities that reflect the diversity of pursuits of our grant recipients’. ‘They are a vital part of our communities being able to help make a young person’s post high school education or training dreams possible’.  Ms Jansson went on to say that ‘In some instances our Education Partners offers text book vouchers but in most cases it’s a dollar for dollar matching of the student’s locally received grant’.  ‘It can make a $2,000 grant from say the Narrabri Education Foundation become $4,000 which is a great help for country students as they mostly have to relocate and establish a new base in order to achieve a post high school education’.

‘In 2008 our Education Partnerships delivered an additional $75,800 in grants to our CEFA students.  With many new partners recently joining, we expect this figure will almost double in 2009’.

The considerably greater cost rural youth have in accessing tertiary education is such that it precludes many from achieving their further education goals.  ‘This is why partnerships like the one we have with the University of Sydney are so important. They make the goal of a university education possible and we are most grateful for their support and commitment to assisting rural youth’ said Ms Jansson.