Impact of the crisis and support plan

Students situation in general

According to the 2020 data, 63% of the bachelor and master students surveyed work in conjunction with their studies (42% in regular jobs; 21% in episodic jobs) and 29% of students have to work to make ends meet.

Aid COVID 1st wave

Within the framework of the first COVID-19 emergency aid scheme (March to August 2020), 1,875 emergency financial aid grants were awarded, for 1,006 student beneficiaries.

Types of aid granted

Reasons	Amount allocated/promised
Job loss	40.19%
Rent allowance	29.19%
Food allowance	14.79%
Extension of the scholarship	10.05%
Computer equipment	5.15%
Medical expenses	0.63%
Overall total	100.00%

Financial aid Rentrée 2020

At the start of 2020/2021 academic year, 1,100 aid requests were submitted (between 1 August and 30 September, the deadline for grant applications), while in 2019, 810 applications were submitted for the entire autumn semester. This means that there has been an increase of 35% in applications to date. This increase reflects the impact of the first wave.

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Global SUPPORT plan

In the midst of the second wave of the coronavirus, this appeal for donations to the UNIGE community and the public completes and reinforces the financial support plan put set up in the spring by the UNIGE and the HES-SO Geneva, which made it possible to help nearly 1,006 students between March and August 2020.

In the autumn, UNIGE and the HES-SO Geneva invested an additional 1.1 million francs, on top of the regular budget of 2 million francs provided each year to support students and enable them to get throught their studies in a decent living situation. A remarkable impulse of generosity has accompanied this emergency measure. The Ernst and Lucie Schmidheiny Foundation, the Ernest Boninchi Foundation, the Fondation Philanthropique des Français de Suisse, the Zdenek Bakala Foundation, the Primate Foundation, the Maurice Chalumeau Fund and the General Fund of the University contributed 2.5 million francs to help the students.