Students embarking on further education but worried about their financial situation are essentially in the dark when it comes to available scholarships and subsidies they are eligible for.
Research done by the Financial Mirror discovered the Education Ministry was in no position to give advice on general scholarships. And the service responsible for state scholarships will make an announcement on September 15 – after most universities start.
So, for those relying on a scholarship or cash discounts to enable them to study there is no central service that can help.
Consequently, students and parents must rummage around asking for advice, laboriously search online or seek professional guidance (which doesn’t come free).
Nevertheless, there is a wide range of full or partial scholarships on offer from various institutions if you know where to look.
Education consultant Charalambos Papayiannis CEO of EuroStudies CY, a private company providing consultancy, said that students have a difficult time finding a scholarship that would help them.
Apart from relatively few consultants active in the private sector, there is no service which has the necessary database to guide them.
“It is well-known that post-crisis, almost all students are in need of some financial support to complete their studies, whether they are just entering the world of academia, or would like to continue their studies at a postgraduate and doctoral level,” said Papayiannis.
“Unemployment has greatly affected students and their families, and many could not cope with the continuing economic needs of their studies without a scholarship scheme,” he told the Financial Mirror.
The consultant said the Ministry of Education should have a service set up with details of what it cost to study at university and what financial aid would be available to them in each case.
“Students and parents who are in financial difficulty get depressed when the time comes to send their children to study. They think because they are poor they do not have choices. That is not the case.”
Papayiannis said a student could study medicine at a top 300 universities for just EUR 450 a year.
He said EUR 450 is the tuition for studying medicine at Naples University and that a student could comfortably live there on EUR 800 a month.
“Students opting for this university could benefit from the state grant of EUR 3,000 while Italy also offers various imbursements to students from the EU.”
Papayiannis said there are universities in countries like Denmark and England which together with some municipalities give students from the EU extra imbursements for meals and transportation.
Some universities have special “solidarity funds” which they use to subsidise students’ studies on top of any other scholarship they obtain.
He explained that many students feel they have to work while studying which he said was “criminal”.
“A child from an underprivileged family, with the various scholarships and imbursements which are out there, could be assisted with up to EUR 15,000 a year”.
Some universities abroad even give students the opportunity to work a few hours in return for further imbursements.
Papayiannis argued it is not that hard for the ministry to set up a service to provide this information to students.
He said that student consultants active in the private sector have put together a complete booklet with all the information regarding scholarships, sponsorships and tuition fees of universities both on the island and abroad.
There are scores of institutions, state organisations, private foundations or rotary clubs who provide scholarships and other financial aid to students for the opportunity to study without burdening their families or getting into debt.
Cyprus State Scholarship Foundation
The Cyprus State Scholarship Foundation (IKYK), in cooperation with the competent services of the Republic of Cyprus, grants scholarships to Cypriot citizens, but also to foreigners, for studies in Cyprus and abroad.
Every year IKYK gives scholarships to students who wish to study in one of the many disciplines covered by the Institute.
Sources close to procedures surrounding the approval of state scholarship applications submitted by students said that those approved get an average of EUR 3,000 per year.
Unfortunately, despite efforts to obtain further information on how many students have benefitted or applied for scholarships, officials were not in a position to release data regarding this year’s budget or scholarships given last year.
A number of private foundations also provide scholarships and sponsorships to students whether studying in Cyprus or abroad.
The Leventis Foundation has offered thousands of scholarships to students for mainly post-graduate studies for research and science.
Apart from the various foundations offering scholarships, students can seek financial aid for their studies from municipalities which offer scholarships to students of their community, while rotary clubs provide sponsorships to students. For example, the Nicosia-Aspelia Rotary Club helps out 3-5 students a year by financing each student’s studies with EUR 1000.
Studying in the US
Students considering America could be supported by Study US, a non-profit organization set up by the US government to essentially replace the Fulbright Institution, under the umbrella Education USA International.
The institution has a budget of EUR 3.5 mln to allocate to scholarships given to Cypriot students wanting to study in the US or are already at universities in the states.
Anna Argyrou, press officer for Study US, told the Financial Mirror that some 13 students who are planning to start studying at US universities this year, are to receive scholarships of an average of USD 25,000 every year.
“We spend most of our time trying to get the word out, that studying in the US does not have to be costly for the students’ families,” said Argyrou.
She said scholarships are given by the universities in the states through the organization.
“We also work closely with the US government to make sure that students there are well-taken care of. We want to make sure that students there have no other cares on their minds, other than studying,” said Argyrou.
She said that some universities also provide free tutoring for students who may find courses tougher than expected.
Students who excel at sport can study for free in the US via a sports scholarships that are becoming more popular.
Sophocles Georgiou, an Athletic Scholarship Consultant said that top athletes can secure scholarships worth anything between USD 160,000 to 280,000.
“There are a few excellent Cypriot track athletes who are currently in the US studying virtually for nothing,” said Georgiou.
He added that while track athletes usually get higher scholarships, footballers, tennis and volleyball players, especially women, also have good chances of obtaining a good scholarship.
Georgiou has helped 18 footballers obtain scholarships for the US this year. He said that students can obtain scholarships for any university, including top class ones such as Harvard and Yale.
Scholarships for footballers in Cyprus
The Pancyprian Footballers Association (PASP) offers scholarships to athletes affiliated with them. PASP officials told the Financial Mirror that footballers with a professional contract usually get a scholarship covering 20%-50% of their tuition fee. Members of the association can also benefit from agreements made between PASP and the University College of Northern Denmark (UCN) and the University of Nicosia (UNIC) which allow them to take a distance learning course in Sports Management for free.
UNIC offers these athletes the chance to benefit from a 100% scholarship if they choose to study Business Administration (BA). Footballers like Constantinos Charalambides, Andreas Makris and Loukritia Chrisostomou have taken advantage of the opportunities presented to them by PASP.
Local Universities
Local, private universities also offer scholarships of up to 75% and usually cover only the first year of the student’s studies. Scholarships given by universities on the island are based on academic performance at high school. Scholarships are also given by universities to students for excellence during their studies, with a ceiling of 50% for each year.
Giorgos Kazantzis, Director of Frederick University’s Administration Services, said that 3 out of 10 of their students benefit from the performance-based scholarships.
He said that this scheme in combination with other help given by the government could see a well-performing student pay half the tuition this way.
On average such students can receive EUR 15,000 out of a total of EUR 30,000 for their course.
He said that in some rare cases, students who have extraordinary achievements in sports could reach 100%, giving as an example two athletes who have participated in the last Olympics.
Kazantzis also said Frederick gives other imbursements to students on socio-economic criteria, with these students benefitting from a discount of up to 20%.
University of Nicosia (UNIC) said that during the 2017-2018 Academic Year, it awarded scholarships and provided financial aid to more than 7,500 students worldwide, in excess of EUR 13.5 million in value.
“Taking into account the ongoing repercussions of the economic crisis, and in an attempt to satisfy the understandably large volume of applications for financial aid, UNIC has almost doubled the scholarships offered over the past few years,” said George Soleas, the university’s vice president of finance.
University of Cyprus, UCLan and the European University were contacted for information about their scholarship schemes but were less than responsive.
