New Scholarships To Attract Top Talent

New Scholarships To Attract Top Talent

Waikato University, in conjunction with Tearaway magazine, is investing in a major new scholarships scheme to help make it easier for top secondary school students from around New Zealand to study at the University of Waikato in either Hamilton or Tauranga.

The new Tearaway Waikato University Scholarships are worth $3000 for fees or halls of residence costs next year. They are being offered for one year to students who:

enroll for the first time in the first semester of 2005 for a full-time, full-year course of study.

who achieve 60 credits or more in NCEA Level 3 or 4 in four approved subjects in 2004, with a minimum of 14 in each individual subject

meet other criteria.

A similar scholarship scheme last year, introduced as part of the university’s 40th anniversary celebrations, was followed by an increase in the number of first year students with A or B Bursary enrolling at Waikato in 2004.

“Our new Tearaway Waikato University Scholarships aim to build on that success in 2005 and make it easier for top students to study here,” says the university’s chief operating officer Geoff Balme. “If we can keep top students studying in Hamilton, and attract others from elsewhere in New Zealand to the Waikato, the scholarships should provide a variety of benefits to students, the university and their regions.

“The new Tearaway Waikato University scholarships are a great incentive to senior secondary students to do well in NCEA so that they can take advantage of our scholarships,” says Mr Balme.

To qualify for scholarships, students need to be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident. They will automatically be awarded the scholarship if they are enrolled and meet the criteria. There is no limit on the number of Tearaway Waikato University scholarships to be awarded next year.

Meanwhile, the university has also been developing a second scholarship scheme to assist students who are high performers both in academic study and non-academic activities such as sport and the arts.

This scheme will enable students to continue to achieve all round excellence. Scholars will receive various forms of assistance, including academic support, and top quality coaching and training through partnerships established by the university with regional bodies.

Details of the new scheme will be announced at the Wallace Corporation University Blues Awards dinner on 1 October.

“This is a great opportunity for young people who have demonstrated all round ability,” says Mr Balme. “We see considerable benefit for both the university and region through such a scheme. We aim to attract more top-level students who are good at study and sport or a performing or creative art.”

More information on the Tearaway Waikato University Scholarships is available from www.waikato.ac.nz/enrol/tearawayschol.shtml or phone 0800 WAIKATO.

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