As reported in PACE last week, Australian students are bypassing engineering degrees due to fears that there are few jobs after the end of the mining boom.
In an effort to counteract this, a $1 million joint fund established by UNSW and the NSW mining industry will take the form of a scholarship offering up to 25 students over $48,000 each over four years.
According to the University of New South Wales, new enrolments for its mining engineering degrees have decreased from almost 130 in 2013 to just six this year.
Paul Hagan, head of the university’s school of mining engineering said it had been decades since the school’s enrolments fell to single figures.
“Downturns are fast, and usually last two or three years,” he told The Australian.
“This is the sixth mining cycle I’ve been through, so I know what happens next. Anyone enrolling now will be in top demand in three years.”
The scholarship is now available for students commencing first and second-year study in 2017.