This system goals to be a crutch for low-income nursing college students as the price of residing rises and tuition charges proceed to rise
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Alberta is increasing a scholar assist program to present some low-income nursing college students a $5,000 scholarship, a part of an effort to ease a scarcity of well being care employees.
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The UCP stated the $8.5 million in expanded assist will give as many as 1,700 nursing college students a $5,000 non-refundable scholarship starting within the 2023–2024 educational yr.
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The province stated recipients should not have to use for the help, however might be chosen from amongst scholar mortgage candidates who’re in eligible packages and fall beneath the federal government’s low-income threshold.
“We have to do extra to develop our well being workforce capability, and by focusing on this help particularly to nursing college students, we hope to make entry into that career somewhat extra engaging,” Superior Schooling Minister Demetrios Nicolaides instructed Postmedia .
Tuition for U of C college students has risen 33 % since 2019 for home college students
The expanded assist falls underneath the federal government’s New Beginnings grant, which started final yr and focused low-income college students enrolled in quite a few high-demand STEM packages.
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It’s the newest in a sequence of strikes by the UCP authorities geared toward encouraging scholar enrollment in fields experiencing employee shortages, or the place a necessity for added employees is anticipated within the coming years.
Coaching and credentialing of extra well being employees was singled out as a mandate for Nicolaides and his division after Premier Danielle Smith took workplace final fall, together with directives to coach medical doctors to enter jobs in rural areas and increasing bridging packages to deliver immigrant employees with coaching of their house nation to begin working in Canada.
Nicolaides stated monetary assist for nursing college students is essential to make sure their packages are accessible amid the rising price of residing.
Among the many elevated prices is tuition – a rising expense that has put some opponents on the ft of the UCP authorities due to cuts in funding for post-secondary college students.
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On the College of Calgary, 4 consecutive years of hikes have elevated tuition by 33 % for home college students since 2019; the latest will increase, permitted final month, embrace an eight % enhance in nursing tuition prices.
When requested if his authorities’s tuition coverage contributes to cost-of-living challenges for college students, Nicolaides argued the price of post-secondary schooling in Alberta is just like charges elsewhere in Canada.
“You will need to take a look at the place we stand comparatively. We’re broadly in step with the nationwide common, I believe we’re about two factors above the nationwide common,” Nicolaides stated, including he expects additional bulletins on affordability measures for college students within the subsequent few weeks.
jherring@postmedia.com
Twitter: @jasonfherring
