Students at a graduation ceremony at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
Toni-Ann Neita, Staff Reporter
AS those who have "been there, done that" know, the process of seeking financial aid in Jamaica to fund tertiary level education can easily turn out to be a daunting ordeal.
Disheartened students should find comfort in the fact that financial assistance is available in a variety of forms, tailored to different needs, and that the process is much easier once they know the options that are available to them.
Options
Students preparing for, or already pursuing, a tertiary education need to budget not only for tuition fees but also for other related expenses. These include accommodation, clothing, meals (to 'fuel' the brain for all that late night studying), school equipment and the ever so vital textbooks.
Private financing/personal resources, student loans, scholarships, fellowships, bursaries, and grants are the 'traditional' forms of financial support that students attending tertiary institutions have available to them. Often students have to 'tap' into more than one of these sources to make ends meet. Also, more and more students are finding it necessary to use part-time employment, on and off campus, and other money-making 'schemes' to supplement these traditional forms of support.
The administrations of the various tertiary institutions in Jamaica are aware of the financial difficulties facing most of their students. They are also aware that over the years there has been an increase in the number of students in their schools that come from the lowest income bracket of our society. Awareness of these two facts have resulted in many of these institutions taking the initiative by implementing programmes and services aimed at providing funds and other types of assistance to help students, financially and otherwise, with the hope of making studying and the attainment of education easier. According to the Office of Student Financing at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, these programmes were made possible with the help of "various public-spirited organisations and individuals."
Scholarships and bursaries
At UWI, Mona, according to the Principal's Report 2001, students continue to receive financial aid through bursaries and scholarships from various sources. The report also stated that the total value of the bursaries awarded to students from these sources, for the previous academic year, amounted to $3.25 million.
A scholarship is financial aid that is given to a student, usually based on academic merit. Persons who are not very strong academically should seek scholarships that place more emphasis on extra-curricular activities and/or leadership qualities. No financial repayment is necessary. However, recipients are most often required to give service to their country or, in some cases, the particular sponsor for a specified period of time after the completion of their programme.
A bursary is a 'mini' scholarship with similar stipulations. Bursary amounts are usually larger than those given for grants but smaller than those for scholarships.
The Government of Jamaica, through the Ministry of Education and Culture, awards approximately 112 scholarships each year. Stephanie Robins, a 22-year-old student who had benefited from one such scholarship while attending the UWI a few years ago, raves that the scholarship was "a big help". She says that the scholarship paid for her tuition for all three years of her studies, gave her a book allowance of $10,000 each year, and 'maintenance money' of $60,000 per year to cover her other expenses. "Having the scholarship made my life a lot easier. I didn't have the same financial worries that some of my peers did," she said.
Grants
A grant is a sum of money given for a specific purpose. The amount given is smaller than that which is given for scholarships and bursaries. The recipient is not required to make any repayment.
At the University of Technology (UTech), students who are experiencing severe financial hardship can apply for a Financial Aid Office Grant. This type of grant is given to students to assist with tuition fees and other expenses including books and bus fares.
At UWI, two types of grants are offered: book grants and cash grants. The Principal's Report 2001 said that in the period under review, "Forty-nine students received books to the value of $218,703.20," via the book grant scheme introduced by the university's Office of Financing at the Mona campus. Other tertiary level institutions in Jamaica also offer their students grants of some kind or another.
Meal subsidies
To alleviate the cost of food while on campus, students with a legitimate need can apply for meal subsidies where available. At UTech, the system set up to provide meal subsidies is known as the 'Love Lunch' system. At UWI, Mona, there has been an increase in the demand for such subsidies. The number of students being provided with a meal subsidy increased from 38 in the previous year to 94 in 1999, according to the Principal's Report 2001. When asked the reason for this increase, a representative at the UWI cited two possible reasons: the university's efforts to make students more aware of the services that are available to them, and the increase in the number of students at UWI who met the basic criterion of need.
Student loans
By far the most 'popular' form of financial assistance is student loans. Since 1970, student loans have helped to meet the costs of tertiary education. The Students' Loan Fund Act of 1971 established the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) as a statutory body authorised to make loans to Jamaican nationals pursuing post-secondary education in Jamaica or other parts of the Caribbean.
Throughout the years the SLB has remained the financial institution of choice for Jamaican students. Last year, approximately 6,000 loans were processed by the SLB, with approval rates of over 80 per cent. Approved loans amounted to $274.5 million. Loans from the Bureau only cover tuition costs (in-part or in-full). The average student therefore has to supplement this loan with one or more of the previously discussed options.
Steve, a recent recipient of a student loan, said that he was grateful for the loan (which covered all his tuition costs) but complained that mobilising the funds to cover the rest of his expenses had been extremely difficult. At the time, he was in the process of looking for a part-time job to purchase his textbooks and hoped to have some cash leftover "just to live".
Part-time jobs
A growing number of students are juggling their studies and part-time jobs. Those who do it warn that it is a mental and physical strain and only do it because they have to. Some brave (or is it desperate?) students are even trying to hold down full-time jobs while doing part- or full-time studies. "I don't have a choice," one such student said, "and the sad part is that both my performance at work and my studies are suffering."
Whatever the choice, or combination of choices, the key to alleviating the "frustrations of financing" is to have patience, determination, and the foresight to plan ahead.
