Fed: Top unis offer 128 new scholarships for less well off

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2001
Fed: Top unis offer 128 new scholarships for less well off

CANBERRA, April 11 AAP - Australia's Group of Eight (Go8) leading universities today
announced 128 scholarships for bright students from poorer backgrounds.

They will become available from next year to support undergraduate study at any of
the Go8 campuses.

Go8 chairman Professor Gavin Brown also announced that Professor Bettina Cass, Dean
of the Faculty of Arts at Sydney University, would become the first appointee to a new
Go8-funded chair in Washington DC.

The position is that of Go8 Visiting Professor at the Center for Australian and New
Zealand Studies at Georgetown University.

Professor Brown said the appointment would provide the basis for continued successful
engagement with organisations in the US capital.

The equity and merit scholarships would allow greater opportunities for bright students
from poorer socio-economic backgrounds to study at leading universities, Professor Brown
said.

He said they were targeted primarily at school leavers and were transferable between
Go8 universities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and the Australian National University.

Each scholarship, open to those who obtain a HECS place, is worth $2,500 a year for
a maximum of five years, subject to academic performance.

"The Go8 is uncompromisingly elitist in its academic standards but is strongly committed
to equity of access," Professor Brown said.

"We also believe in putting our money where our mouths are."

AAP dep/kjp/jnb

KEYWORD: SCHOLARSHIPS

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