 |
As you know, post-secondary education is costly. It is, therefore, to your advantage to be familiar with the various sources that offer financial assistance for post-secondary study. Generally speaking, financial assistance may be categorized in the following ways:
1. Scholarships -are based on school/community involvement and/or academic merit.
2. Bursaries -are based on financial need and do not need to be paid back.
3. Student Loans -are provided by the Federal and Provincial Governments, Banks, such as the Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank, and other financial institutions. Loans do need to be paid back, usually on a monthly installment, starting about six months after the completion of your program.
To assist you with your research on financial assistance, we have put together a list of scholarships, bursaries and awards that have arrived in our schools in the 2008-09 school year. These scholarships will be renewed during this current school year (2009-10) and they will display the year '09 or '10 as the deadline date. Here is what you need to know:
- the scholarships are listed chronologically by the application deadline and by category (whenever applicable) and include criteria, monetary value and contact
- every year each school receives information on new scholarships which will be added to the existing list as they arrive
- providing you meet a scholarship’s criteria, you may contact your Career/Counselling Centre or the scholarship/bursary donor to obtain the application form and complete all the necessary work (including reference letters, transcripts, etc.) and mail all the required material, well before the application deadline
- in some occasions, the applicant’s school must nominate the most qualified student(s). In this case, each school will inform the students via announcements or notices
- it is possible that the information on scholarships may change from year to year (i.e. changes in the criteria, value or application deadline may occur)
- it is your responsibility to sort through all the information well before each scholarship’s/bursary’s deadline and to complete all required work.
- the list of scholarships shown on this website is by no means a comprehensive list. You are encouraged to contact the Financial Awards Office of any post-secondary institution you plan to attend to ensure that you are familiar with all types of financial aid available to undergraduate students. Much of this information is available on the Financial Awards section of each institution's website. Do your research early.
- in addition to the scholarships provided on this website, you will find a list of scholarship websites listed below:
Good luck with your financial assistance search!
PLEASE NOTE:
STUDENT AID BC (www.StudentAidBC.ca), formely known as BC Student Assistance Program (BCSAP), helps eligible students with the cost of their post-secondary education through loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships and special programs. It also has programs for borrowers who need help repaying their loans. Most StudentAid BC programs are based on need, providing financial assistance where students and their immediate families do not have the resources to meet the costs of post-secondary education and basic living expenses. StudentAid BC also offers
scholarships based on merit. StudentAid BC administers programs on behalf of the Government of Canada including Canada student loans, Canada study grants, Canada access grants and the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation bursary. If you do not have access to the internet, Community Access Terminals (CATS) are now available in all 58 Government Agents offices and public libraries across BC. For more information contact 604-660-2610. www.StudentAidBC.ca
For September entry, students must apply for a loan at least 6 weeks prior to the start of their studies. Some institutions, like UBC, have set June 30 as the deadline for application. Students applying for Government financial aid will sign an "override form" in the Financial Awars Office of the institution they9plan to attend. The signing of this form allows students to start their studies before the loan reaches the post-secondary institution.. The 2009-2010 StudentAid BC online and paper application for full-time students will be available June 2010. You must apply on the 2009-2010 StudentAid BC application if your program starts between Aug. 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011. Visit: http://www.studentaidbc.ca for more information. If students encounter financial difficulties after a semester begins, they may still apply for a loan up to six weeks before their courses end. Make sure you contact the Financial Awards Office of the institution you plan to attend to find out more about the
application process.
CANADA STUDENT LOAN ESTIMATOR - Wondering how much you'll get?
The Student Loan Estimator is an interactive Web application on the www.canlearn.ca website that can be used by full-time students to estimate their total student loan. This version provides estimates for the current loan year. The software and the data it uses are updated annually. The Student Loan Estimator was designed to show the amount of assistance you could potentially receive from both the Canada Student Loan Program (CSLP) and provincial funding authorities. Since entitlement varies from province to province, the values used in this tool are
approximations. These assessments will be subject to criteria set by individual provincial loan authorities. To estimate the amount of your potential assistance, the Student Loan Estimator will ask you to provide information in three categories:
General Information - This section collects basic data required in the needs assessment calculation such as province of permanent residence, number of study weeks, etc.
Costs - In this section you will be asked to input the costs related to your education, such as books and tuition (standard assessment items), as well as other costs that may be allowed upon review by the provincial authorities. These will be added to your living allowance to calculate your total assessed costs.
Resources - In this section you will be asked to input your resources (income and assets), a portion of which you will be expected to contribute toward the cost of your education.
| |
