British Columbia Funding

Listen up, all you lovely folks of the west coast! Don’t let the hefty college expenses scare you from dreaming big. Need monetary help to pursue post-secondary education? Just ask and you shall receive!

British Columbia offers a wide range of provincial student aid programs to those who need financial assistance to fulfill their higher education aspirations. Be it experienced professionals looking to add relevant skills to their repertoire to ascend in their career or newly graduated high-school students with the desire to attain post-secondary qualifications, the province of British Columbia has financial aid programs for one and all.

Some of the major B.C. student aid programs include British Columbia Grants, British Columbia Loans for Full-Time Students, British Columbia Scholarships, and British Columbia Bursaries. Eager to know more about these post-secondary monetary assistance schemes? Read on!

British Columbia Grants

Taking into account the different course types, academic requirements, and financial needs of students of B.C., the provincial government of British Columbia offers a multitude of grant programs. Here are some of the most popular grant schemes:

B.C. Access Grant (Full-Time): Catered to students from low-income and mid-income families, this grant is awarded to students enrolled in full-time programs at B.C. public post-secondary institutions.

Adult Upgrading Grant application: As the name suggests, this grant is offered to adults who are registered in a skills upgrade/educational training program.   

B.C. Access Grant (Part-Time): The British Columbia government provides grants to part-time students signed up for an undergraduate degree, diploma, or certificate course.Similar to the Full-Time Access Grant, this program is also reserved for those who are studying at B.C. public post-secondary institutions.

B.C. access grant for students with permanent disabilities: This grant works along with provincial student loans to provide financial assistance to full-time students with permanent disabilities. Eligible students get a $1000 grant as a replacement of the loan amount.  

Assistance program for students with permanent disabilities: This B.C. grant program focuses on providing monetary aid to students with permanent disabilities to pay for education-related equipment and services.

British Columbia Student Loans for Full-Time Students

Apart from grants, B.C. students signed up for a full-time post-secondary program can also avail of provincial student loans. Tailored to help students with financial needs, this integrated loan system between the federal and B.C. government allows full-time students to borrow funds from both lenders. Despite the federal and provincial government’s separate contributions towards the loan amount, there is only one monthly repayment that you make towards the cumulative loan balance.  Click here to read more.

British Columbia Scholarships

On the contrary to the need-based funding programs such as grants and loans, British Columbia also offers scholarship schemes based on the merit of students across various fields. Some of the popular B.C. scholarships are:   

Irving K. Barber scholarship programs

Geared towards awarding excellence, this scholarship offers financial aid to Indigenous students, international students, and other students studying at the public post-secondary institutions of British Columbia. This scholarship can be further classified into:   

Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society – Transfer Scholarships

Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society – International Scholarships

Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society – Indigenous Awards

Provincial Scholarships Program

This scholarship allocates funds for meritorious Grade-12 students to encourage them to pursue post-secondary education. Four major categories of provincial scholarships program include:  

B.C. Achievement Scholarships

B.C. Excellence Scholarships

Pathway to Teacher Education Scholarship

District/Authority Scholarships

British Columbia Bursaries

In addition to loans, grants, and scholarships, the province of British Columbia also offers bursaries to specific groups of students. B.C. bursaries are non-repayable student aid and can be broadly classified into three major bursary programs:

The nurses education bursary

This bursary is allocated to nursing students from difficult socio-economic backgrounds who require financial assistance to continue their studies uninterrupted.

B.C. supplemental bursary for students with a permanent disability

This bursary is offered to both part-time as well full-time students with permanent disabilities to ease out their financial pressure while pursuing post-secondary education.

B.C. Learning disability assessment bursary

This provincial bursary scheme helps part-time and full-time students in paying for assessments to identify learning disabilities.

Other Financial Aid Programs

Not sure if you would qualify for any of these B.C. provincial aid programs? Don’t lose heart as there is plenty of assistance available for B.C. students from federal funding programs like Federal Student Grant, Federal Student Loan, Federal Student Scholarships, and Federal Student Bursaries

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