The Difference between Bursaries and Scholarship

For all school and university students, the scholarship is more popular than bursaries. Both bursaries and scholarships are quite similar for the given award to individual students or groups for education purposes. An educational institution, individual company, and funding group usually offer bursaries 2021 and scholarships to schools and universities to help the students better financial support during school.
Everyone has a chance to get each bursary and scholarship including international students who study abroad. Even, the chance for international students is widely open especially for those who have the best academic grade. Before knowing more about bursaries and scholarships, let’s learn about their similarities.
The Similarities Between Bursaries And Scholarship
Both terms are quite similar for giving the amount of money to students for educational purposes. They also have several similarities such as:
- Bursaries and scholarship is financial support and award given to a student for free. Both awards are available for anyone as long as they meet the requirements provided by them. Each of them has requirements and standard which must be fulfilled by applicants.
- They are a non-repayable award. Different from grant or loan, bursaries and scholarships are not bounded by the contract between the receivers and granter. The granter is usually a company or institution. They will grant all school tuition until you graduate from certain universities, later, you have to repay the total tuition you have spent during school.
However, bursaries and scholarships do not have any contract or requirements that you must repay the sum of money they have given you for such a period. Bursaries and scholarship only give you education money once for a certain period.
- It is not limited to all educational levels or stages. The bursaries and scholarships are available for school students, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees. Everyone has the same opportunities but it depends on the company or institution that offers this financial fund.
What Makes Bursaries And Scholarships Different From Each Other?
After knowing the similarities, the below differences make you understand better about bursaries 2021 and scholarship.
- Usually, the scholarship is provided by independent universities or government institutions. Especially for foreign students who studied abroad, the scholarship is given by universities where they take the course of study. Meanwhile, the bursary is commonly given by the private institution, company, or other funding groups. They are not as formal as universities and government institutions.
- The bursary is an education fund for students who are lacking financial support during school. This program is special for students whose families cannot cover all tuition fees including books, uniforms, living costs for students who live far, and other payments. It does not matter if applicants do not have the best grade, because its purpose is to help students with lack financial support for the academy.
However, the scholarship is all about academic grades. Students must have good and best academic grades among others. It really pays attention to your educational achievement and rank. Once the achievement and rank fall, they may stop the scholarship before the duration ends.
- Since scholarship is given by government institutional, the requirements are more detailed and quite difficult to be achieved. The scholarship is also limited only for some slots so students must work very hard to get it. Not only by the academic rank and achievement, but students also must have other supporting skills such as foreign language, athletic skill, or etc that can support them in academic purpose. Therefore, the scholarship is also more competitive than bursary.
On the other hand, bursaries are commonly given to students in an independent school. Independent schools which are originally do not have government support commonly have financial support from private institutions, companies, and other funding groups. Mostly, students must fill in financial record form to know their family condition. Students with families that have minimum monthly income will get more opportunities to get this financial help.
- Usually, bursaries 2021 focus on several educational purposes such as tuition bursaries, meal bursaries, uniforms, and school kits, or travel bursaries. They differentiate the factors that can help students the most during school. However, the scholarship is usually about free tuition fees for a certain period.




