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First-year students to receive scholarships
The first day of Orientation Week at the University of the Sunshine Coast on Monday 15 February will be extra special for 55 talented first-year students.
The students, who represent 38 different high schools and who are starting a wide variety of degree programs, will receive scholarships ranging in value from $3,500 to $12,000 and totalling $360,000.
USC’s first Undergraduate Scholarships Presentation Ceremony is set to feature some eloquent speeches and plenty of emotion as students personally thank scholarship donors. For many, this financial recognition and networking opportunity will be a life-changing event.
This will be particularly so for the recipients of six Academic Excellence Scholarships, valued at $12,000 each, which are provided annually through donations by Sir Clem and Lady Renouf, Tim Fairfax AM, and other donors.
Thirteen other major scholarships have been provided by various businesses and community organisations, and the University will – for the first time – present 36 Vice-Chancellor’s Merit scholarships.
USC Foundation Executive Officer Andrew Pentland said the scholarship program at USC had come about largely through community support, and it was having a remarkable effect.
“These scholarships do not only provide financial support to students, they provide recognition of outstanding achievement and encouragement and moral support,” he said.
“As universities have become more proactive in recruiting students, they have been offering these types of scholarships. It’s important that USC is able to compete in this way by providing scholarships that can enable our top students to stay on the Coast to study.”
Most of the recipients are from the Sunshine Coast, but some are from Brisbane, Gold Coast, Darling Downs, Kilcoy, Esk, Bundaberg, Maryborough and Mackay, and interstate from New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
— Terry Walsh