by Jon Spicer
the Carillon

As students are plagued with soaring tuition fees, offers of ³free money² in the form of bursaries and scholarships become increasingly attractive.

³The main objective of the school¹s scholarship and bursary program is to keep good academic students in the province, assist in financial needs, and recognize academic achievement,² says Clarence Gray, Assistant Registrar for the University of Regina.

The Academic Scholarship, covering full tuition, and the General Proficiency Scholarship, covering half of tuition, are the main post-entrance awards. Both of these are presented to students with the highest average in each semester with a required 15 credit hour term There are also many continuing scholarships that are fairly open regarding qualifications, where the student can apply for 25 possible awards with one application.

³Independent faculties and departments have their own designated scholarships, with some requiring applications while others don¹t,² Gray says.

Entrance scholarships for the U of R include the UR Scholars, a remission of full tuition for graduating students with the highest average in high schools, and the forty UR Entrance Scholarships, each $1000 for students with the highest entering averages.

Approximately half of Saskatchewan¹s high schools nominated a student for the UR Scholars program this year. Of the 158 students who were offered the free entrance tuition, 109 accepted and are attending classes this semester.

Julia Scissons, a first-year science student, is a UR Scholar who was nominated by her high school in Meadow Lake.

She received scholarship offers from other universities, but none of which offered her full tuition.

³The scholarship influenced me a lot on my decision of which university to attend,² she says.

³If I change my mind [regarding programs], it¹s totally transferable.²

Other entrance scholarships and bursaries are generally specific to certain programs, extra-curricular activities, and financial need.

According to Maclean¹s magazine, the U of R devotes 3.77 percent of its total operating expenditures to scholarships and bursaries, ranking it ninth in comparison to other Canadian comprehensive universities.

³We are not able to offer as much [scholarships and bursaries] because we¹re smaller and younger than other institutions,² Gray adds.

³But we certainly have grown in the last five years.²

The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College offers a range of scholarships and bursaries in the form of external donations to SIFC students.

Maggie Gordon, Executive Assistant in Student Services, is on the committee that develops scholarship criteria for possible donors.

³SIFC has about twenty scholarships that we administer, given by donors specifically for our aboriginal students,² she says.

The SIFC is attempting to allocate the awards fairly among their offered programs.

³We find that a lot of the scholarships are geared toward administration and sciences,² she says.

³We¹re trying to disperse these to other areas such as education and social work.²

SIFC students are also eligible for scholarships awarded by the Association of University Colleges of Canada.

³The U of R is associated with AUCC and, for the first time, one of our students received an award from them this year,² Gordon says.

³We¹ve also had a number of students receive out-of-province scholarships from such organizations as the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards.²

Vincent Ziffle, a Campion College student who is completing a double degree in honours bio-chemistry and chemistry, was recently awarded one of the two Jesuit Fathers Senior Bursaries.

The award was based on financial need with regard also to academic standing and extra-curricular activities.

³I think that there is a large quantity [of awards], but there can always be more,² he says.

Ziffle also acknowledges that there is little advertisement for scholarships and bursaries and that there should be more effort to inform the many needy students.

³Considering the fact that many [scholarships and bursaries] aren¹t claimed, they should make the students more aware of the opportunities. Then there would be more drive for the students to get them,² he says.

Ziffle¹s bursary was application-based, requiring him to take the initiative and get information regarding it. This application process sometimes deters students.

Sixteen Campion students were presented with UR Scholars awards this year at the Campion College Opening Mass and Awards on September 19.

³Our students are eligible for all university scholarships and awards as well as Campion designated ones,² says Professor McCarthy, Awards Officer and Assistant Dean at Campion College

³University students are also eligible for some Campion prizes.²

The Campion awards are quite wide-spread among academic departments with some specific to certain programs. There are also awards offered only to rural Saskatchewan students in the hopes of keeping them in the province.

³There are about 70 bursaries, scholarships, and awards [at Campion] and the program is increasing every year,² McCarthy says.

³There are four new scholarships this year and three more now in the process of negotiations.²

About 80 per cent of the awards are sponsored by donors, while the remaining are funded by the college itself.

³The majority are donated by alumni, friends of the college, and the clergy of Archdiocese of Regina,² McCarthy says.

³The scholarships and bursaries are often tied into community and parish involvement.²