Scholarship fund: ECU South West awarded more than $1 million for regional scholarships

South West students hoping to complete tertiary studies closer to home have even more reason to enrol in 2023 after Edith Cowan University secured a $1.4 million grant to deliver 25 scholarships at its South West campus, starting this year.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare awarded the Destination Australia 2023 grant to ECU earlier this month, commending the university on its commitment to supporting regional Australia.

The scholarships will build on the university’s strengths, with ECU last year signing a 20-year MOU with Boyup Brook eminent on-farm research lab Rylington Park Institute for Agricultural Training and Research.

The university was also named as host to the State’s first Creative Technology Innovation Hub, which will service all of WA.

ECU vice-president Cobie Rudd said the grant was a great win for the region and would enable the South West campus to offer 25 scholarships to students.

Of these, 20 will be for domestic and five will be for international students.

“The 2023 grant is almost three times what we had last year, so it will really help build enrolments into key areas where local employers are seeking graduates,” Professor Rudd said.

“This Federal support enables us to prioritise domestic students in the greatest need of support in accessing tertiary education in regional Australia, so we can engage with those students from under-represented groups such as from a low socio−economic status, those who are first in the family to tertiary study, those living with a disability and First Nations people.”

The scholarship program would be used to focus new students towards qualifications that would help fill the skills shortage across multiple sectors, such as education, nursing, midwifery and social work, and prepare a ready workforce for the needs of the future, such as multimedia specialists, web developers, software engineers and cyber security analysts.

“As well, ECU South West is in the process of establishing a University Department of Rural Health, funded by the Commonwealth Government which will provide hundreds of new clinical learning opportunities across all health disciplines,” she said.

Minister Clare wrote to ECU to congratulate the University on the grant, noting that the program had attracted significant interest that well exceeded the number of scholarships awarded.