What is a bursary and why it is different from scholarship

There are many ways to finance your education and there is one particular way that is perfect for students who cannot afford to pay the full fees, which often stretch to outrageous sums. Bursaries are sums of money offered by institutions to students that cannot afford to pay the educational taxes. The goal of a bursary is to help those students who would deserve to get higher education, but do not have the means to undergo it.

A bursary does not have to be repaid and this often starts the confusion between a bursary and a scholarship. A scholarship does not to be repaid most of the time, but there is a basic difference between a bursary and a scholarship. The difference lays in the way that these two are offered.

While a scholarship will be offered only or mostly on merit and educational achievements or other types of achievements, a bursary will be offered based on a means tests. The income of the parents of the student who is considered for the bursary will be analyzed by a committee that will decide if the student will get the bursary or not.

Most of the time a list is made of all the applicants for the bursary and it will be awarded to the student that, according to the means test, seems to need it the most and who would have the least chances of paying the educational taxes were he not to receive the bursary.

In many cases though some account of the academic performance or ability will be taken. So the student will have to at least pass relevant public examinations. The general advice for students that want to apply for a bursary is to submit all the paperwork and forms that will prove the financial situation of the parents and to also be on the lookout for scholarships, the type of bursaries that are based on performance.

A bursary is not offered unlimitedly. A bursary is reviewed annually by a committee. The committee will look into the matter to see if the justifications for the award are still the same. The financial situation will be analyzed once again and the student will have to pass the relevant public examinations in order to keep the bursary for another year. The earning threshold value per annum that the committee uses as a reference point in order to award the bursary varies from institution to institution, so if you are determined to get a bursary you should try your chances with several universities and institution.