It's True: People Want to Give You Money

By: Mark Toljagic

There are a lot of scholarships and bursaries available to students who have worked hard to make good grades. Often the biggest challenge is simply getting the word out to students and, believe it or not, getting enough of them to apply for the money.

Funded by local employers, organizations and individuals, these monetary awards are a testimony to the enormous amount of community and corporate support Centennial College, and other schools, have attracted over the years.

Entrance scholarships are open to new applicants to Centennial, while the majority of the scholarships are aimed at students who have been in their chosen college program for at least a year. Applying couldn’t be easier; students print out the applications found on the college website, complete and submit them to the campus Financial Aid office by the due date.

Scherry George, Centennial’s Associate Registrar, Student Financial Services, advises students to start applying for scholarships as early as possible – before the semester even begins – and to as many as are applicable to the individual student.

“There are resources available to students who are willing to invest time and effort to apply. If they don’t know where to start, any campus Financial Aid office can point to not only their institution’s offerings, but external scholarship sites that provide support, too.” Some funds are directed at specific identified groups, such as sole-support parents or Aboriginals.

“Students should do their best to obtain any resource that helps support their post-secondary education. In addition to any monetary value, scholarships can boost the student’s well being and provide the impetus to do even better. Being a scholarship winner certainly helps when the student is seeking employment by demonstrating leadership, commitment and dedication.”

George says Centennial provides free workshops on student financial planning, knowing that young adults sometimes find it challenging to budget their money, especially if they’re living away from home for the first time.

“We provide summer financial aid sessions to our most financially challenged students. We offered a Financial Literacy workshop in November with information on personal budgeting, credit and debt management, saving and investing, financial planning and even protecting against identity fraud.”