Student Support at Magdalene

Many regular readers of Magdalene Matters will know that we and our colleagues across the University have increased efforts to provide support for all qualified students in need of financial assistance so that anyone able to study here can do so. Our efforts to raise funds for student bursaries have been so successful that this year, for the first time, the Student Loan Company will now automatically assess every single student applying for a maintenance loan to ascertain whether they are also eligible for a Cambridge Bursary.

Unfortunately, the Government maintenance grant previously available to students from families with an assessed income of £25,000 or less was abolished by the previous Chancellor. Just to recap, every undergraduate at Magdalene who qualified on the basis of need, was awarded an enhanced named Cambridge Bursary worth £4,500 per year for the duration of their degree. This sum was then ‘topped-up’ by the non-repayable grant of £3,387 p.a. resulting in a sum roughly in line with expected living costs for the academic year (around £7,500–£8,000). This year, having had very little time to plan for the loss of the grant element, we have been able to immediately increase our named enhanced Bursaries to £5,000 for our freshers. Thank you to those of our donors who agreed to increase their annual gift and indeed to all of you who continue to contribute to the Student Support Fund as we could not finance our Bursaries without your help.

The scheme has been running for five years now, financed in the main by Members equally committed to the idea that no one should be deterred from coming to Magdalene because of financial reasons. Who better to thank you all than the students themselves:

“It is incredible to think that I would not have experienced the past three years of joy and inspiration and rewarding challenge without the generous financial assistance I received from College.”

“I started the term so worried about whether I’d be at a disadvantage through not being able to get the same equipment as everyone else but with the extra support I was able to get everything I needed and had a wonderful year instead of a worry filled one – I really can’t thank you enough.”

“My family and I have been touched by Magdalene’s generosity that allows passion to flourish without fear of economic restraints.”

“To be perfectly frank, I simply could not have afforded to study at Cambridge without this bursary... and hope if I am one day in a financial position to support students at Magdalene College myself, I will do everything in my power to help students from low-income backgrounds like myself.”

“Receiving this bursary has truly been a gift for me. It has allowed me to have the resources necessary to take a break from academic studies once in a while and get involved in extra-curricular matters.... It is something which was truly beneficial and has made me realise how important support can be to those who are less well-off.”

“Even before applying knowing that the university was willing to support students was very reassuring. There can be a misconception that Oxbridge is exclusively for wealthy students, but the bursary is a strong argument against that, and reinforces the fact that admission is purely a matter of academic merit.”

Please contact the Director of Development, Corinne Lloyd, if you are interested in learning more about our named bursary scheme. director.development@magd.cam.ac.uk

www.magd.cam.ac.uk