Hundreds of candidates eligible for scholarships set up by Quebec to facilitate student mobility have not had access to them in recent years, it has been noted The Duty. CEGEPs are questioning the limited funds at their disposal to distribute this financial aid, which could nevertheless help to relieve pressure on college establishments in major centres.
Announced in 2022, the Parcours scholarships allow students living more than 60 kilometres from one of the 20 CEGEPs eligible for this program to receive annual assistance of $7,500. This is intended to cover part of the costs associated with these students’ decision to leave the family nest. Québec aimed to attract 5,000 CEGEP students to the region in five years. In the first year of the program, 1,111 students received this scholarship.
“It has had tangible impacts, and we find that it is a more than adequate measure,” which deserves to be “promoted” more to young people starting in high school, believes the director general of the Cégep de Chicoutimi, André Gobeil. He also believes, like several leaders of the 20 CEGEPs contacted by The Dutythat these scholarships can help to limit the pressure in large centres, where CEGEPs are “overflowing”, especially since several establishments in the region still have many free places in their classrooms.
Many candidates, few elected
However, several CEGEPs report a much higher number of applicants for this program, from one year to the next, than the number of scholarships they can award based on their budget. Result: many students “who would be entitled to these scholarships” do not receive them, summarizes the communications manager of the Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup, Jérémie Bouchard.
“We would like to be able to give out more to satisfy a greater number of people,” also notes Mr. Gobeil, who must “say no to people” eligible for these scholarships. In the meantime, programs are sometimes “suspended due to lack of clientele” in various CEGEPs in the region, including his own, he points out.
For its part, the Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup received $1,143,000 from Quebec last year to award Parcours scholarships. This allowed it to distribute this financial assistance to 62 new students out of a total of 159 candidates “who met the scholarship criteria,” says Mr. Bouchard.
This year, the CEGEP has 128 eligible candidates, but only 50 scholarships were awarded to students because of the “budget received” by the institution under this program. The CEGEP had to compensate for the awarding of too many scholarships last year — relative to the funds available — by reducing their number this year, even though demand for them persists.
“It forces us to make choices. […] “We must choose the programs for which we gain by encouraging students to migrate from large centres to our CEGEP,” explains the director of studies at Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup, Jérémie Pouliot. These scholarships are thus distributed as a priority to new students in certain programs, particularly those related to education and health. The remaining scholarships are then awarded through a form of draw to eligible students enrolled in other programs.
“This can lead to aberrations,” notes Mr. Pouliot. It can happen that, out of two students eligible for these scholarships who come from the same municipality and study in the same program, one receives this scholarship and the other does not, he explains. “This creates discontent.”
Disappointed students
As a student, Alyssa Doyon was counting on this scholarship to help her make ends meet when she left the small municipality of Chaudière-Appalaches where she lived last year to settle near this CEGEP, more than 250 km away. However, last year, she learned in mid-September that she had not been selected among the candidates eligible for this financial assistance. She therefore had to find a job and take out a student loan to continue her studies. “It would be the fun that the government gives more scholarships to students, so that we are less in financial deficit,” she emphasizes.
An increase in the funds available for Parcours scholarships, which several of the CEGEPs contacted by The Duty.
“If we could give scholarships to all eligible people, that would be the best thing that could happen to us,” says Annie Fortin, director of studies at Cégep de La Pocatière. The institution could then promote this program more. “Right now, we’re walking on eggshells because we don’t want to be disappointed later” by eligible students who don’t receive this financial assistance.
Since the program began, his Cégep says it has received 398 applications from eligible candidates, but has only distributed 243 of these scholarships. However, once again this year, the institution has many open spots in several of its programs. “We would be the happiest people in the world if we had more students among us,” notes Mme Fort.
Joined by The Dutythe office of the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, is pleased with the “popularity” of the Parcours scholarships. “Attracting more students to our regions also means maximizing the chances that they will settle and work there, while the need for manpower is significant, especially in our public services,” the office adds. However, the latter refused to comment on the possibility of injecting more funds into this program. “It is still too early for us to comment on future budgetary decisions.”