STUDENTS will get £500 for going to university - if they live in Salford.
Salford University is offering potential students £500 a year towards the cost of their studies, but only if they live within a local postcode.
The bursary will go to all people beginning undergraduate degree courses this year, regardless of family income.
Undergraduates will get the money for each of the three years they attend university.
But rather than a cheque, the cash will be deducted from their £3,100-a-year course fees.
Academic bosses hope the move - believed to be the first time a British university has offered a blanket payment to local students - will be encourage students put off by the costs of university.
The university's Liz Bromley said school leavers and other aspiring students within the 10 postcodes that cover Salford would be eligible. "If you live in Salford and you join us this year, you will get £500 for study regardless of how much your family earn," she said. "We are aware that fees make coming to university difficult, as only a small number of students have no financial pressures."
The university is hoping to boost student numbers over the next decade and is carrying out a £150m campus upgrade, including a new media department next to the BBC's planned mediaCity site.
And it is offering an even higher annual payment of £1,000 to high-flying students who achieve two As and a B or better at A-level. The same sum is also available for anyone starting a physics, engineering or modern language course, which are suffering a countrywide shortage of students.
Bosses at the university have budgeted £3m to pay for the bursary bonanza, but could not say how many locals they hoped to attract, insisting they were keeping an open mind.
About 4,000 undergraduates start courses there each year - 90 per cent from Britain.
The costs of studying for a degree have continued to climb, with students beginning degrees this year expected to graduate £15,000 in debt.
Most learners apply for inflation-only loans to cover annual fees and sometimes living costs.
Last year the government brought back grants for people from low-income families.
Many universities offer an array of bursaries and grants - but conditions such as parental income, academic track record, or sometimes even sporting achievement can apply.
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Students' £500 postcode bonus
January 28, 2008
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Ms D, Manchester (28/01/2008 at 10:02)
Connor Fitzgerald (29/01/2008 at 09:21)
Is it the education budget they are given as result of the tax-payer, or is purely private money?
If it is 'private money' then they have to right to do with it as they please. If the money comes from the education funding it receives from the tax payer, then this scheme is wrong.
Saying this, the government has a responsibility to provide quality education for all up to the A Level.
After that, if you want to go to university, then you should pay yourself. A University degree is attained to make you more attractive to employers and to get you into higher paid fields of work.
Why should the tax payer fund your degree so you can then go off and become a high earner?
You want rewards, prestige and the trappings of a professional career, then pay for it yourself!
The only exceptions should be areas of national need, nurses, doctors, engineers, teachers and a like. If you want to study a soft subject and waste your time learning about 'gender studies in the dynision sphere and its social impact on fair trade cycle lanes' then pay for it yourself!
I went to University many years ago, because of my parents income I received no funding. However, I now have a professional position as an engineer and I benefited from that education! It was right I didnt receive a penny of the tax-payers money to further enhance my private life.
Quays Mark, Salford Quays (07/02/2008 at 15:48)
The site now consists of 9 cranes with a 10th and 11th on the way (crane bases in place). Most of the concrete cores of the new BBC building look to be in place or started, rising to 9-10 storeys (maybe more) for the highest cores. The cores are currently being surrounded by concrete pillars up to 4 storeys currently.
The land for the taller buildings off to the side of the main BBC building (right from the Lowry Centre side) is still being dug and prepared but more temporary cabins are in place off Broadway (the road that runs through the back of the Quays) presumably to house more MediaCity:UK project staff and a contingent of the BBC (cameramen) looking at the latest articles across the internet.
The current phase of the build occupies 35-40 acres (next to the City Lofts flats) with other phases planned across the water on the Imperial War Museum side.
The overall site is something of the order of 200 acres but no visible signs of development has started outside the main phase 1 area currently. No doubt this will depend on discussions with other media companies being persuaded to join the MediaCity:UK estate.
For a photographic timeline for December / February and beyond (and pictures back to May of last year), go to Google and search on ‘BBC Salford Quays Approved - Media City : UK whitfield’ in Google or goto ‘www.mawhitfield.co.uk/mcuk.htm’.
Judging be the pace of the development, there is a big push on to meet the 2010/11 date for the first phase completion.
Those currently thinking about a career in the media by way of a chosen degree (media studies, photography etc.) might be one of the 15,500 new jobs to be created between now and 2011 in the first phase of this build. Also, the price of properties (and especially flats) in the area will almost certainly rise as a result of the considerable development occuring in this location with new flats being built currently.
I have worked as an IT Manager in Salford Quays for 12 years and live in North Bolton. When I first came here, the skyline of the Quays area was relatively flat but now houses such buildings as The Designer Outlet (80 outlet stores), The iconic Lowry and Imperial War Museum Buildings and new flat developments which continue to be built in anticipation of the BBC move and general growth in this area.
Hope this update helps.