Administrative error leaves some students from P.E.I. short on bursary funds

About 50 students from P.E.I. received less than they should have fromCommunity Service Bursary this year due to an administrative error.

There areabout 250 high school students in the provincial program each year who are eligible to receive up to $750 for community service hours to go toward their tuition.

The government said about 50 students received $500 when they were eligible to receive $750. Students receive the bursary even if they go to university off-Island.

Working to get proper amounts

The provincesaidit was due to an administrative error and officials areworkingto get the proper amounts to students.

"It recently came to our attention that some P.E.I. students who participated in the Community Service Bursary have not received all the bursary funds they earned," Workforce and Advanced LearningMinisterSonny Gallant said in an emailed statement.

I did those volunteer hours in good faith whenI could have been working at a second job if I knew I wasn't going to get the extra money. Fiona Steele

"It seems to have been an administrative error affecting about 50 students and the funds will be paid out in the coming weeks."

Fiona Steele, a student from Sherbrooke, P.E.I., who is studying at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, said it's been frustrating waiting for the funds.

"I didn't actually receive anything until late January, and even then it was for $500, not the $750 I was told I would be receiving," Steele said.

"I did those volunteer hours in good faith whenI could have been working at a second job if I knew I wasn't going to get the extra money."

Money coming soon

The government said the students would receive the money automatically in the coming weeks butanyone with concerns should contact student financial services.

Steele said doing the hours and then having to wait so long for the bursary was disappointing.

"It was pretty disheartening, the whole experience," she said.

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