To pursue any qualification, you need to meet certain eligibility requirements, whether that's applying to the tertiary institution or applying for financial aid.
Pursuing higher education can also become incredibly expensive. To help deserving students who are typically unable to afford university or college tuition without the help of financial aid, there are a number of bursaries and scholarships available for a variety of career fields and studies.
You can apply for a bursary from the organisation offering the bursary, an education provider, an employer or even the government.
If you're hoping to study Psychology, or are already studying towards a qualification in Psychology, here are a few of the eligibility criteria a Psychology bursary may ask you to meet:
1. You Must Have Completed Matric
This is one of the most basic requirements an applicant will be asked to have.
Usually, you must already have a matric certificate or be working towards obtaining one, i.e. you must have already passed Grade 12 or be in your Grade 12 year at the time of your application.
Applicants may be required to achieve a minimum percentage in a particular subject in order to be considered for funding. This mark can be anything from 50 to 80 percent, depending on the subject or field of study (in this case Psychology).
If you don't have a matric certificate, or aren't currently in matric, you can take part in the Second Chance Matric Programme, and receive your National Senior Certificate (NSC) at the end, once you've written and passed the exams.
2. You Must Have University/College Acceptance To A South African Institution
When applying for a bursary, you will need to provide your proof of acceptance to a tertiary institution.
Since you are planning on pursuing Psychology, you may have applied for a qualification in Psychology offered at a South African university, or you may have gained acceptance from a college like the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP).
You don't have to be applying and/or attending a university to qualify for a bursary, unless the bursary provider specifies the type of institution/s it offers financial aid to, or certain universities/colleges only.
To gain acceptance into a tertiary institution, you will need to make sure that your marks are good enough to meet the institutions requirements. To achieve this, you'd need to work hard and study to perform well throughout your schooling career.
3. Subject Selection
There are general bursaries and there are "career specific" bursaries available to students.
General bursaries are typically funded by government and are awarded to individuals regardless of their subject or career choice. Career specific bursaries will only allow students who are pursuing higher education in a particular field or profession to qualify for funding.
For example, Eskom may only offer financial support to students who want to continue their studies in an engineering related field; in this case, an applicant will be pursuing a career in Psychology.
Depending on which bursary providers you're applying to, you will most likely need to be studying towards a qualification in Psychology.
If this is a requirement, bursary providers will give a list of subjects or field choices (as a guide) that qualify to receive financial aid from them.
4. Apply On Time
You might meet all the eligibility requirements of a Psychology bursary, but if you miss the application deadline, you'll be losing your opportunity.
Applying ahead of the deadline is helpful and ensures that the final application date doesn't pass you by, especially because late applications are generally not accepted.
Missing the deadline means waiting until the following year to apply again, which may mean putting your studies on hold.
5. Show an interest in your community
Your success is not merely determined by the actual application process but rather by the work you do before you apply.
In some cases applicants will be required to provide relevant real life examples of where they have demonstrated initiative, determination and hard work.
Using community work as a reference is a good way to show these traits. Displaying entrepreneurial and leadership qualities outside of school will set you apart from other applicants.
Make a point of participating in community work or extra mural activities that will enhance your application.
In this case, since the goal is Psychology, maybe you could volunteer or job shadow at a Psychologists' office to gain some more insight into the job you'll one day be doing.
