It’s been another expensive week for the St. Thomas University Students’ Union as its emergency bursary fund continues to dry up.
Over the past two weeks, 14 applications have been approved. On Friday alone, $1,850 was given out, leaving $1,940 in the fund.
President Ella Henry wrote in a statement that “applications are coming from students waiting on student loan appeals, students whose parents are facing financial difficulty and unable to help out as they have been previously, students with unexpected medical expenses, and students having difficulty finding a job (or a second job) getting enough hours to pay for their expenses.”
Last week the union approved moving $3,400 to the emergency bursary fund. The money came from advertising revenue from last fall’s welcome week kits. This will not impact welcome week next year.
It was the third time money was moved to the emergency bursary fund this year. In total, $9,900 has been added to the fund since January. The union had budgeted $25,000 this year.
Henry said she wants more done.
“We’re committed to working for long-term solutions by pushing the provincial government to fund students and universities adequately and pushing the university to offer more bursaries to students in financial need,” she said.
“However, in the short term, we’re also committed to continuing to move money within our budget to ensure that students aren’t forced to drop out of university or choose between paying rent and buying groceries when they run into financial difficulties.”
