WINNIPEG, MB – Kyle Daniels is a 25 year-old single father busy raising his son in Winnipeg’s inner-city. He is also a successful student who is attending The University of Winnipeg’s Urban and Inner-City Studies program with financial assistance from UWinnipeg’s Opportunity Fund, established to help non-traditional students achieve their full educational potential. The fund seeks specifically to support Aboriginal students, new Canadians and refugees, war-affected youth and students from inner-city neighbourhoods.
Daniels has a dream. He intends to continue studying at UWinnipeg and one day work with troubled youth.
“I would like to make a difference in the community working with youth who need help, because I’ve seen lots of need firsthand growing up,” said Daniels. “It was hard for me to come back to school after being in the workforce for years, but even after one month the quality of my work really went up. I never had the means to go to school, so this bursary has really made the difference by covering my tuition and books.”
Beginning University Successfully
Daniels has achieved his success by attending BUS (Beginning University Successfully), a unique program established at UWinnipeg’s Urban and Inner-City Studies campus on Selkirk Avenue in Winnipeg’s North End. The BUS program is an alternative university entrance option for people who do not have grade 12. The aim is to create a warm, welcoming, personalized educational environment and to provide the academic and personal supports that “non-traditional” students often need to succeed in post-secondary education, including one-on-one and small group academic tutoring and mentoring. If students earn a C or better on each of their BUS courses, that earns them mature student status at UWinnipeg.
UWinnipeg awarded 185 Opportunity Fund bursaries to students like Daniels this September alone, for a total of 838 recipients to date. Approximately 100 Opportunity Fund students have now graduated.
In addition, this year six students are attending classes at UWinnipeg as a result of the Opportunity Fund Tuition Credit Program, which allows elementary and high school students to “earn as they learn”. Approximately 150 inner-city students are now registered in the program. Students as early as Grade 4 participate in science and sustainability programs and can earn up to $4,000 in their own tuition credit account if they stay in school and graduate. These are, in effect, deferred scholarships.
The Opportunity Fund was created in 2008 by The University of Winnipeg to bridge the graduation gap and transform lives. The goal of the Opportunity Fund is to build a $10-million endowment fund that will help ensure that everyone, regardless of background and socio-economic status, has access to higher education and opportunities. The Opportunity Fund is supported by generous private and government donations. Information about The University of Winnipeg Foundation is available at: http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/donate-now?
MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
