New scholarships will continue for years, some for decades, after a major fundraising push by VIU. (VIU)

By Spencer Sterritt

student excellence

VIU fundraiser success creates $2 million in new scholarships and awards

Sep 23, 2020 | 6:52 PM

NANAIMO — More opportunities are now available for students needing financial assistance to attend Vancouver Island University.

The Imagine VIU fundraising campaign raised $7.3 million in the last two years, creating $2 million in new scholarships, awards and bursaries for students.

William Litchfield, associate vice-president, told NanaimoNewsNOW this creates new opportunities for those who would otherwise miss out, such as the 35 per cent of students who are the first in their families to attend post-secondary education.

“Not everybody has an RESP set up so they can afford to go to school. It’s a challenge on the financial side for them. As well, we look at scholarships to promote academic excellence and how we can encourage people to continue on.”

Litchfield said $3.9 million in scholarships and awards was handed out in 2019, almost four times the amount of money handed out five years before.

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Much of the money raised in the Imagine VIU fundraising campaign will be donated to endowments and trusts.

“Those awards are going to be there forever. It’s not just benefitting the students at VIU today but also tomorrow and the next decades, essentially centuries.”

VIU offers more than 4,000 awards each year.

Litchfield said they recently streamlined the process to ensure no student misses the opportunity to apply for an award.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt