Dubai, August 08: Universities have received double the number of applications for their scholarship programmes than expected, with more students seeking grants for tuition fee.
Though most universities have brought forward their fee structure from the year passed, the spiralling economy has propelled students to apply for scholarships rolled out by universities, who owing to the increase in applications have expanded their quota this year.
The Heriot Watt University in Dubai has increased its scholarship amount from Dh1 million in 2008 to Dh1.5 million this year.
“The reason for this increase would be the increased number of applications received,” said Mariam Shaikh, head of the university grants at the admissions section at the university.
“One factor would be the recession and the other the global financial crisis. Students are trying to cover this shortfall by securing a scholarship and making tuition costs affordable for their families,” she said. Cost of academic programmes at the university is approximately Dh 40,000.
Students also consider studying on scholarships an added advantage while scouting for jobs.
“It reflects very well on their resume and is an added plus when they are in the job market that they have secured an academic merit based scholarship or a sports scholarship,” added Shaikh.Dr John Grainger, pro vice-chancellor of Murdoch University in Dubai said he has a seen a greater number of people seeking financial aid this year.
“We had 42 students apply for our scholarship programme this year while last year there were only 15. We have students who have stated they can’t afford university and are seeking scholarships,” he stated. The university issued nine scholarships in 2008 which was increased to 28 amounting to Dh1.1 million, this year. The scholarships cover fees from full tuition in the first year or a semester of study.
The Michigan State University (MSU) received over 200 applications for their scholarship programme that amounts to over Dh350,000. The MSU Dubai Distinguished Scholarship Programme provides opportunities at four levels — Freshman Scholarship/Professorial Assistantship, Freshman Scholarship, Freshman Commended Finalist Scholarship and Professorial Assistantship Award. The scholarships range from full tuition fee to 50 per cent on the amount.
“There has always been an interest in our scholarship programme and we are very happy with the response. We are in talks with organisations in the UAE for sponsored scholarships for next year,” said Matthew Flaherty, director of admissions at the university. Aamena Saleh, who is pursuing a degree course in Family Community Services with a concentration in Early Childhood Education at MSU has received a stipend to complete her research in the area of her interest.
“It is my understanding that many people were concerned about college tuition (at different universities), partly due to the economic crisis. For this reason, I do believe that offering scholarships at this time will be very helpful,” she said. The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) that offers graduate and post graduate courses to more than 3,568 students has increased the amount in scholarships and tuition grants by 50 per cent this year.
“The numbers of standard scholarships remains at 37 for this year, but the numbers of ‘outstanding academic excellence’ scholarships awarded to new enrolling undergraduate students this year have increased,” said Professor Rob Whelan, President of UOWD.
Divya Phulwani, who is doing her Masters in Finance and Banking, is one of the first-time recipients of a 100 per cent scholarship at the university. “In these financially challenging times, a full scholarship is a great blessing,” she said.
Another student, Ghadeer Al Safi, who joined UOWD’s B.Com programme said: “It is great to enter a prestigious university by paying just half the fees.” Representatives of SAE Dubai, a media training institute believe their Part Scholarship initiative is particularly appropriate during these challenging economic times.
The institute is offering a 50 per cent reduction on its single year tuition fee which amounts to over Dh 65,000.
“The current economic climate only enforces our commitment to provide the less fortunate an opportunity to access world class creative media education.
We were literally overwhelmed by the response (to our programme), said Anthony Frantzis Head of Marketing & Strategic Alliances, SAE International. Nitin Anand, head of academic support services at Skyline University College in Sharjah said since the organisation operates with a low fee structure they do not run a specific scholarship programme. “Being a ministry accredited university, we still are comparatively low priced and thus students that cannot afford high costing universities opt for us as we provide the same academic benefit,” the official said.
“But we offer need based scholarships with a 10 to 15 per cent off on the first year fees. We did receive some parents with genuine concerns on how their child would continue as they are currently unable to afford it,” he said.
The British University in Dubai that began its scholarship programme in 2004 in association with multinational companies is offering over 60 scholarships this year but Nandini Uchil, Head of Student Administration said the university received slightly lower number of scholarship applications in their first committee review where 28 scholarships were awarded out of 50 applicants. “We hope to see an increase in the number of applications for the next meeting scheduled on 10 September.
We expect to receive more than 50 applications for the second round,” she said. The deadline for receiving applications for the second round of scholarships is August 31.
–Agencies