Education provider Kaplan Professional has announced it will offer 10 finance and economics scholarships to women.
Kaplan Professional’s “Women in Finance” scholarship scheme is part of a $1.5 million grant from the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) to manage and deliver a scholarship program funded by the Australian government for women in finance and economics.
Read more: Kaplan introduces new scholarship scheme
The FPA will allocate $85,000 to Kaplan Professional to partially fund the 10 scholarships, with Kaplan Professional funding the difference.
The 10 scholarships will cover the tuition fees of any four subjects in Kaplan Professional’s Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA)-approved Master of Financial Planning program. This is dependent on whether a recipient is commencing postgraduate study or choosing to continue their studies to receive a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning or Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning.
In addition to women who may not have previously studied with Kaplan Professional, eligibility is open to students who identify as female who have previously completed, or are currently completing, other Kaplan Professional vocational or postgraduate qualifications.
Brian Knight, chief executive officer of Kaplan Professional, said that he hoped the scholarship scheme would encourage women to enter, or re-enter, the industry and achieve leadership roles across the financial services sector.
“We know there is already significant pressure on financial advisers across the industry, and there are a number of additional barriers and challenges that women may face,” said Knight. “We hope the scholarship scheme will go some way towards alleviating some of the financial burden of studying at a postgraduate level, especially for those women who may be disadvantaged by their situation.”
