Most students encounter at least one money-related dilemma during their academic career. As a student, you live in a perpetual catch-22-style situation where everything that gets you by while you study — from your friends, family and relationships to your car, computer and accommodation — can also create sudden and unanticipated financial burdens.

Universities get this. Most of the people who run them have been there themselves. So they have support services in place to help students through the rough times. However, according to Deakin University finance officer, Louise Blomley, many students don’t seek these services out until the problem has started impacting their grades. 

Louise says she’d love to see more people visiting student services before things get out of hand. Whatever the issue is, she says, it never hurts to ask. The university is equipped with resources to help in all sorts of situations and, at the very least, can point you in the right direction to find the kind of assistance that’ll work for your circumstances.  

Louise sat down with D*Scribe on a sunny afternoon at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus to talk through all the basics you need to know about the financial assistance available. 

Resources

If you think you could use a bit of financial assistance, here are direct links to all the resources Louise mentioned (plus a couple of bonus ones).

Deakin financial assistance for students (grants, interest free loans, scholarships and more)

DUSA free student advocacy service (advice, direction and assistance offered for a huge variety of student issues)

DUSA transport assistance program (subsidized paring and Myki cards)

Housing Victoria bond loan scheme (interest free loans from the government to help you pay bond for a rental property)