Tag: engineering bursaries

Exxaro Bursaries South Africa

As is common for large South African companies Exxarro bursaries in South Africa are available for students looking for financial aid.

exxaro-bursaries
Exxarro Bursaries

As is common for large, successful South African companies, Exxarro bursaries in South Africa are available for students looking for financial aid with specific career goals in mind. Based in South Africa, Exxaro is a business which mines primarily coal, mineral sands, metals and industrial minerals. The company operates mining sites around the world but especially in Asia and Australia as well as throughout the African continent. Beyond mining operations, Exxaro has also recently been investigating the option of entering energy markets and in combination with their current activities is a great place to work if a person has a background in geology or engineering.

As nationally offered government bursaries are fairly uncommon or tied up in the potential of having to repay loans, looking at companies like Exxaro to help a student round out their financial aid needs is always a good idea. Common to many other South African bursary programs, students should expect to work for the company during or after graduation as they repay their debt through time worked. While this sort of deal may seem like it benefits the company more than it does the individual student, in reality providing a relatively stable job and immediate post undergraduate experiences are extremely valuable to freshly graduated students. Should their job not pan out after their repayment period comes to a close, these experiences will give students a background which will enhance their abilities to be hired by companies in the future. All in all, bursary schemes are a great way to find financial aid, and bursaries at Exxaro are no exception.

Students interested in bursaries from Exxaro should first take a moment to understand the basic eligibility requirements. Basic eligibility requires that students be at grade 12 preparing to graduate from a secondary institution scoring high on the math and sciences portion of the matriculation examinations. Further students must also be residents of South Africa and be interested in obtaining a degree from a specific field. The fields which an Exxaro bursary accepts is engineering, commerce and science. The specific degrees that Exxaro is looking for include but are not limited to degrees in mechanical, electrical or mining engineering, finance, information technology, geology or metallurgy. Exxaro bursaries are also made available for those students studying mining or mine surveying. As with many other South African bursary programs, Exxaro always maintains the right to limit what programs they will give bursaries to based on economic need.

Comparing Exxaro bursaries to other schemes available in South Africa it becomes pretty clear that the available program is on par with the status quo. Exxaro bursaries cover university tuition fees, registration costs, exam fees, living arrangements, food and also provides for basic spending money. Unlike some other bursary programs there is no indication that Exxaro bursaries provide for travel between home and a student’s university of choice. Of course this should by no means deter interested applicants from applying to the program as, should they win an award, the amount which Exxaro bursaries do cover overall is still immense.

Students who receive an Exxaro bursary are expected to sign a binding agreement which requires them to work for Exxaro until the relative amount of the bursary has been repaid through hours worked. In order to apply for this bursary scheme students are expected to hand write their application. In order to accomplish this task, students should prepare a curriculum vita expressing their learning experiences and job history. Further students will be expected to submit their grade 11 scores for analysis by the Exxaro selection committee on top of which their later grade 12 matriculation scores will be assessed. Only a limited number of Exxaro bursaries will be made available every year so it is necessary, due to the highly competitive nature of the program, to craft a CV which will indicate to the selection committee a sincere interest in engineering, mining or geological sciences. The deadline for Exxaro bursary scheme applicants is April 1, 2011.

Engineering Bursaries for Engineering College Students

Engineering bursaries for engineering college students can really help along to their chosen career by offering financial assistance.

Engineering is an exciting and diverse field allowing students with a firm grounding in mathematics to apply their understanding to practical applications. Engineering bursaries can help these students get along to their chosen career by offering financial assistance. After applying for more generally applicable bursaries and scholarships, a student may still find themselves coming up short and looking for further ways to fund their schooling, and in this case it may be wise to start looking at field specific engineering bursaries.

There are programs available to fit general engineering degrees or more specific bursaries for engineering available for civil or even electrical engineers. It may take a bit of digging, but once you start looking available engineering bursaries will start to come out of the wood work. Depending on your geographic location, different programs are going to be available, but you should take the time to investigate each one carefully and apply where you meet the given criteria.

Colleges in the United Kingdom will often have available individual bursary programs based on departments at the school. The University of Bath, for example, is offering up 20 awards in 2011 for chemical and biochemical engineering, giving 2,000 pounds for students accepted into the program. This engineering bursary is available to international students at the University of Bath who have applied to their chemical or biochemical engineering programs and have achieved an A level in mathematics. Applying to the chemical engineering bursary will happen automatically when students choose the University of Bath as their choice school and fill out the relevant forms. While this example may not carry over to all universities in the United Kingdom, your individual school of choice will likely have bursaries in engineering available as well through similar methods, and it is important for any student looking for financial aid to consult with their program department for information on bursaries available.

As with many other locales, students in South Africa have many bursary options for engineering available to them. The Construction Education and Training Authority has several bursaries for engineering available to students in 2011 seeking bachelor degrees. Those students looking to major in civil engineering will find the CETA engineering bursary welcome aid. It provides for R3500 which can be used to pay for tuition, books and rooming expenses. Applications for 2011 are due by September 30, but students should be aware that competition for CETA engineering bursaries is high. According the CETA website, 70% of applications meet the minimum requirements for the program, so setting yourself apart through more qualitative means will likely make or break your application’s potential. Students attempting to apply for this engineering bursary should have high marks in science and mathematics while also showing a financial need. Further, students should be between the ages of 16 and 35 with extra weight being given to those applicants seeking degrees in engineering fields especially needed by construction firms in South Africa. The last portion of requirements will be incredibly important in setting yourself apart from other applicants, so be sure to investigate where your interests truly lie before applying.

Engineering bursaries are ready and available for your application. Students should investigate all available funding opportunities and nail down where their interests are focused, as there are bursaries in engineering available in multiple fields. Regardless of where you are, checking with your college of choice or contacting your local bursary office will help you narrow down and identify important funding opportunities. As with any process involving a need for financial aid, it is always in the best interest of the student to start looking as early as possible. While the CETA bursary has a late deadline, it is not uncommon for bursary deadlines to be much earlier in the year, and students starting their search late may find they do not have the time to complete the necessary forms.

*College scholarships list.