A bursary is a monetary award that is granted on the basis of financial need. Bursaries are different than scholarships. Scholarships are merit-based and are awarded for academic achievement. Bursaries are financial-need based awards that do not have to be repaid with money. However some bursaries require that you ‘pay back’ your bursary by committing to work at your benefactors company for a period of time, usually for the same amount of time that the bursary was supplied for.
The intention of the undergraduate bursary program is to supplement, not replace, students’ primary sources of funding.
5 tips to apply for a bursary
1. Be complete! The bursary committee has to read your application and make a decision. It’s hard to assess your situation if you’ve left information out.
2. Submit it on time. The deadline is important – late applications will not be considered.
3. Apply for government student financial assistance. Check to see what NSFAS has available at all times. Bursaries are typically issued to students who demonstrate the greatest financial need and receiving student aid is one of the easiest ways to show need.
4. Be realistic. When you are filling out the academic year budget, be realistic about how much you spend. Indicating that you spend R5000pm on entertainment might help show that you have more expenses than resources but it probably won’t get you a bursary.
5. Don’t forget your resources. Make sure you tell them how much money you have. If you tell them you have R20,000 worth of expenses and R150 worth of resources they’re going to think you forgot to fill in half the application.
Article sourced from carleton.ca