University offers smart school leavers $29k to study there
A southeast Queensland university will offer a whopping $29,000 to school leavers to study in a game-changing plan to attract the best and brightest students - but you must fit one criteria.
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THE University of Southern Queensland has revealed a game-changing plan that could change the face of the university and the face of Toowoomba, Ipswich and Springfield well into the future.
Vice-Chancellor Geraldine Mackenzie will today unveil three new and expanded scholarships for high-school leavers that would provide some of our smartest students with up to $29,000 worth of funding.
The move, Professor Mackenzie said, was part of the university's plan to attract more young people to the region and retain some of the young people who choose to leave.
School leavers who receive an OP1 or 2, or an ATAR of 97.5, will receive $29,000 if they choose to study at the University of Southern Queensland, with no strings attached to most of the funds.
In a game-changing move for the university, Queensland school leavers, including the current year 12 cohort, who receive between an OP1 and 8, or an ATAR of 85 or higher, and put USQ as their first choice on Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) preferences, will receive one of three automatic scholarships.
USQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Geraldine Mackenzie said it was a decisive move to help keep young people in the regions and attract students from capital cities to study at the university.
"We want to ensure our best and brightest are staying in the region, and that we are attracting school leavers from across the State," Professor Mackenzie said.
"We want to build strong rural and regional communities and we know that providing outstanding educational opportunities (and careers) locally is the best way of doing just that."
Prof Mackenzie said the suite of scholarships would apply to accomplished students who listed USQ as their number-one choice for QTAC. The scholarships will be available to school leavers studying full-time at any USQ campus.
"The university scholarship process has been simplified to encourage greater participation from prospective students," she said.
"The new scholarships are automatically awarded to students who place USQ as their first preference and meet the qualifying results - it's that simple".
The new Chancellor's Excellence Scholarship will be awarded to 2019 school leavers with an OP 2/ATAR 97.5 or above. The scholarship will have a value of $29,000 over four years of study, $23,000 over three years, and includes a $5000 study abroad package and participation in a leadership and development program.
The Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship will be awarded to 2019 school leavers with OP 6/ATAR 90 or above. The scholarship will have a value of $20,000 over four years of study, $15,000 over three years.
The Executive Dean's Scholarship will be awarded to 2019 school leavers with OP8/ATAR 85 or above. The scholarship will have a value of $6,000 over four years or $4,500 over 3 years.
All three scholarships are unlimited in number and recipients will also be able to participate in the Student Ambassador program.
QTAC applications for 2020 are now open.
For more information on the scholarships and other USQ programs visit usq.edu.au.
Originally published as University offers smart school leavers $29k to study there