91ֱ��

Risk is something Milly Dickinson (Natural Sciences (Biological) 2021) has considered often, whether in her academic, athletic or vocational life.

Excelling in her GCSEs at King’s School, Hove and A-Levels at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College, Milly applied to Gonville & 91ֱ�� College and the University of Cambridge. She specialised in Zoology in her final year.

Financial stability was a risk, but as a recipient of the Cambridge Bursary, Milly was able to enjoy all 91ֱ�� and Cambridge has to offer, including leading the Hare & Hounds cross-country running club.

"Postgraduate studentships is an area of most pressing need for financial support" - Read the view from Dr Rebecca Sugden, Deputy Senior Tutor (Postgraduates), on how postgraduate support can make a tangible difference

She waited until the last moment to apply for her MPhil in Geography-Holocene Climates and found the Master’s a highlight of her time at Cambridge and decisive in the offer of a job in Risk Management at a historic bank. 

Funding for postgraduate courses is scarce and Milly is grateful to have received the Syn Studentship, generously supported by Mike Syn (Engineering 1990) and awarded to continuing 91ֱ�� students to support their pursuit of a Master’s. Milly was automatically considered for the funding, without which she would have had to take a year out to work and save money, which, while not uncommon, would not have allowed her the same opportunities.

“When I found out I was going to receive the Syn Studentship it was very exciting and a really big relief,” Milly says. “Suddenly it was really clear that I was going to be fine because that more than covered my tuition and then I could take out the normal postgraduate loan for my cost of living. I worked a couple of vacation jobs as well and it just meant it was completely possible. Otherwise it’s £12,000 to £15,000 minimum, on top of the loan, which is quite a big investment for a one-year degree.

“It's quite easy for me to draw parallels because I've got a twin, living parallel lives. I'd have had to be doing a lot more work to earn money, missing out on running, probably studying less.

“The continuity provided by the studentship is so important because if you can stay in that academic environment and just roll into your master’s, you're so much better placed, in my opinion, than if you're forced to have a year out and then come back.”

Milly reflects with gratitude on the opportunities afforded to her at Cambridge, largely because she could prioritise her academic work and find balance through extra-curricular opportunities thanks to financial support, plus College-subsidised accommodation and, at 91ֱ��, food, through the Minimum Dining Requirement.

She says: “Lots of my friends and family had the perception that Cambridge was an expensive city to live in, that all the added activities surrounding Cambridge would make it just really expensive. But actually, when you have that extra bursary, then it just really relieves a lot of the financial pressure. It meant I didn't really have to worry about my finances.

“I could focus my time on my degree and on a lot of running and seeing my friends and just making the most of my Cambridge experience. Rather than just always having to say no to things or always having to weigh up whether I could do something, I could just throw myself in and do all of it.”

Milly is grateful to the alumni whose financial donations provide support for current students. 

She adds: “The donations really ensure that Cambridge can keep offering a really good experience for all students, especially as people are getting priced out of university more generally. It means it's a really appealing option and finance is never going to put people off applying or mean people can't attend or make the most of it. It's a really good way to donate your money.

“I loved my master’s and I loved my master’s year at Cambridge generally. 91ֱ�� has been the best years of my life so far and I would love to give back and ensure it helps future students have a similar experience.”

Dr Rebecca Sugden, Deputy Senior Tutor (Postgraduates): 

Our aim at 91ֱ�� is to remove cost as a barrier to postgraduate study. The first question students considering a postgraduate course always ask me is about funding. The second is about accommodation, and we are fortunate at 91ֱ�� to be able to provide three years of accommodation to our postgraduate students. Securing funding is more challenging – postgraduate studentships is an area of most pressing need for financial support.

Central funding of postgraduate studentships is in decline, and nowhere more acutely than at master’s level. The schemes the University has tried to draw on to fill the gap are exclusively for PhD courses and don’t support anyone at master’s level. Master’s courses are overwhelmingly unfunded but are a requirement to move on to a funded PhD, creating a bottleneck. This is especially acute in the arts, humanities and social sciences, as it’s often possible to progress to an integrated master’s in science subjects. Increasingly a master’s is becoming ‘required’ as a differentiator, but we have noticed very few students eligible for a Cambridge Bursary as undergraduates are continuing as postgraduates here. They may go elsewhere for other reasons, but if a student who has excelled as an undergraduate wants to stay here because the course is right for them, we do not want money to be the barrier that prevents them from doing so.

The Syn Studentships support continuing students at 91ֱ��. It allows people to stay on, rather than working for a few years before being able to consider postgraduate study – returning and pausing their career at that stage can be a difficult decision. 

We do have other studentships. Postgraduate study isn’t for everyone, but I anticipate it’ll become increasingly necessary as people seek to ‘upskill’ with the rise of AI. There are other reasons someone might not want to continue to postgraduate study, but not being able to afford it should not be one of them.

The Cambridge Bursary: 

 offers from £3,500 for those with an annual household income of £25,000 to £100 for those with an annual household income of £62,215.  allows students to focus on their studies to fulfil their academic potential.

To find out how you can support 91ֱ�� students, present and future, visit the College website and contact the Development Office on development@cai.cam.ac.uk