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Student Enterprise boosted by £61,000 awards scheme
BITCOIN FOR FEES AT CUMBRIA
The University of Cumbria has announced it will accept Bitcoin for the payment of fees. The move comes with
the launch of courses that examine the role of complementary currencies in economic and social systems. The University believes it is
the first public university in the world to accept Bitcoin as payment for course fees. Bitcoin is an online
ABOVE: Students celebrate at the 2012-13 RBS ESSA Awards
Students could get their hands on £61,000 of funding plus expert advice as part of the RBS Enterprising Student Society Accreditation (ESSA) initiative and awards, now open for applications. The scheme aims to promote the great
enterprising work carried out by uni societies and the people behind them. By becoming accredited by ESSA, societies have the opportunity to win cash through the awards, as well as receive a qualification, which is recognised by leading employers. Last year saw a record 458 societies
from 110 universities, representing 89,000 students successfully achieve
accreditation, while 142 societies applied for the awards and 7,000 students were actively engaged in skills workshops. The University of Warwick was
named the country’s most enterprising university, topping the RBS Enterprising Students ranking table ahead of Imperial College London and University of Cambridge in second and third places. Over the past two years, societies at
Warwick have won £29,500 as a result of being part of the scheme, while societies at The University of Cambridge have scooped £17,000 from participating in the RBS ESSSA Awards.
SFE urge early applications
improve the application process to make it as easy as possible for students and their sponsors. The new application form for this year
has been designed with significant input from students, making it quicker and easier to apply for funding, as well as being easier to navigate and understand. Derek Ross, director of operations at
ABOVE: SLC Glasgow
Student Finance England is advising new students to apply for funding early this year, with applications now being accepted. The Company received over 1.14 million applications last year and continues to
Student Finance England, said: "There have been a number of improvements to the student finance process over the last few years, and we continue to strive to make it beter. "Working closely with other
government departments, we verified over three quarters of new customers' incomes without the need for students to supply further evidence last year and we also checked identity directly with the passport service, with a 98% success rate."
currency and payment system that already enables the international transmission of funds per day at an amount greater than Western Union. The acceptance of Bitcoin
will initially be limited to the two programmes that address complementary currencies: the Certificate of Achievement in Sustainable Exchange, which will be taught from the University’s London campus in July 2014, and the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership, which will be taught from its Lake District campus, in June 2014. Both courses are run by the new Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS). The founder and director of
IFLAS, Professor Jem Bendell explained the move. “We believe in learning by doing, and so to help inform our courses on complementary currencies, we are trialling the acceptance of them. The internal discussions about currency and payment innovation and the practical implications for different departments have been insightful.” Late last year a private
university in Cyprus announced it would accept Bitcoin, but the University of Cumbria is the first public university to do so, and for courses that are already validated and accepting students.
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