Students come from all around Australia and the world to study at NICA. NICA’s courses are necessarily intensive, with students in the Bachelor of Circus Arts attending 35+ contact hours per week; the equivalent of a full time job.

Georgia DeGuara, 3rd Year NICA student originally from Broome, WA:

“To manage living costs some people in my year will work six days a week, sometimes seven, on top of full time training.

I have supported myself financially since I was a teenager, and before coming to NICA I worked four jobs to pay for my year 11 & 12 education. Since coming to study circus full-time, I’ve had to balance shifts atop of 8 hour days of intense physical activity, tip-toeing the line between exhaustion and paying the rent.

It does take juggling around payday. Last night I had the calculator out to see if I could afford some new hoop tape; seeing if I had enough shifts coming up to cover it.

There are other hardship grants available, but it's us against several hundred other applicants. I believe a NICA-specific fund is a great idea, as not only will we be supported by our university, but we will know that the wider community has our backs!”

Melbourne is a vibrant city, but it also has some of the most expensive rent and living costs in Australia. Relocating to a new city is often challenging, especially for young students, many of whom have never lived out of home and who struggle to make ends meet.

In addition to their contact hours, students also often engage in physical strength conditioning out of hours to ensure they are at elite fitness level. Add a part time job into the mix and it isn’t hard to see why many students struggle to keep up with rent and maintain a high level of work in their studies.

For NICA Certificate III & IV students, there is currently no government loan scheme applicable to the vocational training offered at NICA. This makes it nearly impossible for some students to attend NICA with vocational course fees ranging to more than $10,000.

Can you help us support our students so they can continue to train to become elite artists?

Your donation will allow us to:

·         Support up to four students annually with fees relief

·         Support up to four students annually with relocation costs

·         Support up to four students annually with rent costs

·         Support students who experience crisis financial hardship

·         Provide financial assistance to purchase expensive equipment

·         Contribute to the emotional and physical well-being of students by reducing their financial burden

·         Ease the transition of moving to a new city