FREE information sessions:
University financial aid, scholarships and loans!
We help students make informed decisions about their study path beyond high school.
We deliver FREE information sessions about financial aid, scholarships, and government student loans for your Year 9 to 11 students.
Based on our own pilot study conducted in Victoria in 2022 with the University of Melbourne and on international evidence, we believe that our sessions can help your students gain invaluable insights into their future career options and academic opportunities, for a smoother transition from high school to university.
We will use surveys to measure the impact of our information sessions on students’ interest in learning more about university, and intentions to apply to university.
The project has received approval from the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity at the University of Melbourne and the Research in Schools and Early Childhood Settings (RISEC) at the Department of Education and Training.
Our team is composed of Dr Siqi Pan (University of Melbourne), an expert in experimental and behavioural economics, Dr Alexandra de Gendre (University of Melbourne), an expert in the economics of education, and Gloria Chen, a PhD student in Economics at the University of Melbourne.
Our Timeline
Between now and May 2024:
Sign up to receive our free information sessions
We contact you to find a good date in June 2024 for our session
June 2024: Initial Session
We visit your school and invite students to fill in a 15-minutes baseline survey in class within the regular school day.
We deliver a 30-minutes face-to-face information session following closely Covid-safe guidelines to ensure the safety of the school community.
July 2024: Impact Assessment Survey
We return to your school and invite students to fill in a 15-minutes post-session survey. The survey measures what students have learned from the information session and afterwards, and their study intentions.
December 2024: Release of survey results
Based on our survey, we send you insights into how to improve your own information sessions, and level the playing field for your students with other students in Victoria.
Implementation Details
Our sessions have obtained approval from the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity of the University of Melbourne. This committee verified in detail that our protocols follow closely the values and principles set out in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007, Updated 2018), including research merit and integrity, justice, risk and benefit and respect.
Our sessions have also obtained approval from the Department of Education and Training through their Research in Schools and Early Childhood Settings (RISEC) process.
Both the students and their parents or guardians will have the right to refuse to participate in the program before its commencement.
All information relating to your school and to participating students will be kept secure and private, following strictly the guidelines for research ethics at the University of Melbourne.
Our Team
Dr Siqi Pan
Expert in Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Dr Siqi Pan is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on how people acquire and react to information in complex decision environments.
Dr Alexandra de Gendre
Expert in the Economics of Education
Dr Alexandra de Gendre is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. Her research analyses the causes and consequences of socioeconomic disadvantage in education.
Gloria Chen
PhD Student in Economics
Gloria Chen is a PhD Student in Economics at the University of Melbourne. In her research, Gloria studies how families' information about financial aid, scholarships and loans contributes to the persistence of disadvantage in education in Australia.