
ONE hundred students engineering at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are set to benefit from $2 million worth of scholarships.
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CSU has partnered with Transgrid to launch the scholarship, supporting students to cover the ongoing costs associated with their study, living expenses or learning resources.
This scholarship fund is the largest philanthropic gift from a corporate donor in Charles Sturt University's history.
Director of Charles Sturt Engineering, Jim Morgan, said the funding is "very exciting" for the department.
"It's the biggest grand the university has ever got from a single source. It's exciting from that perspective," he said.
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"It's very exciting for engineering, because it provides support to our students. It's also a recognition to our course. It's nice to have the company put faith in you and recognise the quality of your graduates."
Mr Morgan said the scholarship is likely double the university's intake of engineering students.
"It comes in the form of 25 scholarships per year for the next four years. The scholarships can be used by the students for any of their expense," he said.
"It can be used for course expenses, accommodation and relocation expenses.
"All up, we have about 100 students, minus a few that have graduated this year. It has been about 20 per year recently. The addition of the scholarship, could fund an additional 25 students, which is a big benefit for us."
"We're hopeful this will attract 25 new students, but of course there'll be a little bit of overlap. There'll be students that learn about the scholarship that were going to come anyway."
CSU launched its five and a half year Bachelor Of Technology (Civil)/Master of Engineering (Civil) course back in 2016, with the first graduates in 2021.
Mr Morgan said CSU has also started offering a four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours).
"The way TransGrid set up the scholarship, students can chose one or the other," he said.
With 85 per cent of CSU engineering graduates working in regional Australia upon completion of their studies, Transgrid CEO Brett Redman said the scholarships would have substantive positive impacts in regional Australia.
"This $2 million scholarship fund will support the next generation of engineers through their training and help to address a critical skills shortage in regional Australia," he said.
"We are pleased to be partnering with Charles Sturt University to help fill a critical skills gap."
CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon said the scholarships would not only provide much-needed support for the students but also help facilitate important and much-needed infrastructure in Australia in the decades ahead.
"It's very pleasing to be able to work with Transgrid to offer these scholarships that will help students pursue their higher education goals at Charles Sturt University," she said.
"In addition to supporting individual students, this will have broader positive impacts when those goals are realised and our graduates start to fill this crucial skills gap, in regional Australia and beyond."
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