B.C. Access Grant for Part-Time Students

With a busy schedule involving work and other commitments, education often takes a backseat. However, if you still want to learn and grow in your career, part-time post-secondary courses are the way to go. But there is one caveat, college education ain’t cheap. Fortunately, the government of British Columbia can help you remedy that.

The government offers a whole host of student aid programs, including the B.C Access Grant (Part-Time). Just like its full-time counterpart, this grant is designed to offer non-repayable financial aid to students in need while pursuing their part-time undergraduate degree, diploma, or certification course. However, this grant does not apply to those who are pursuing a master’s or doctorate degree. With that in mind, here’s a look at the various factors you must read to decide whether you may get the grant or not.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the part-time grant, please ensure you meet these criteria.

• You must be a citizen of Canada, a permanent resident, or an individual with protected status.
• You must be a resident of British Columbia. To be considered a resident, you must have resided in the state at least twelve months before starting your course if you are an independent student. For dependent students, either one of your parents/guardians must have resided in the state twelve months prior to your course.
• It is mandatory to have a valid Canadian social insurance number to be considered eligible for the grant.
• You must be enrolled in a part-time course pursuing either an undergraduate degree, diploma, or certification course in a university or institution affiliated with the program.
• As it’s a grant, you also need to showcase your financial need. This is processed by first calculating your actual cost of study/tuition and subtracting the money you can provide or extra help you might receive from other loans or awards.
• The grant will be routinely awarded as long as you perform satisfactorily in your academics during your tenure.
• Lastly, students with former incarceration records or those who have defaulted on previous loans are disqualified by default.

Income Threshold

To see whether you financially qualify for the grant, your family’s income must fall under the set threshold. Depending on the size of the family, there is a minimum income threshold to receive the maximum grant amount, and there is a maximum income threshold for grant cut-off.

How To Apply

Now it’s time to answer the most important question, how do you apply for the grant? Well if you have already applied for other aids then you can automatically be selected for this grant. For the rest, you must log in to the StudentAid BC website and download and fill out the form for the federal financial assistance program. You must also already be enrolled in your program at the designated institute. Once the form has been filled, submit the application to the financial aid office present in your institute. The office will then fill out the study information section of the form and finally submit it to StudentAid BC for review. Remember to submit this form at least six weeks before your given study period ends to receive any aid.

How Much Can You Get

As your application is on the way, you may be wondering how much money will you be receiving? This will mainly be determined by the size of your family and their annual income, for depending on where they fall on the threshold, you may get more or less aid. For example, if your family’s annual income falls under the minimum threshold amount, then you can receive the maximum part-time grant amount for a year, which is $ 1000. This will gradually decrease as the family income increases.

Other Student Aid Options

As students are generally automatically selected for this grant, you may wonder if you will get it. Fortunately, the government has a contingency plan for such cases with programs such as Adult Upgrading Grant application, B.C. access grant for students with permanent disabilities, British Columbia Loans for Full-Time Students, BC Achievement Scholarships, BC Excellence Scholarships, Learning disability assessment bursary and a whole lot more.