My brother is saying that British Columbia gives huge sums of money to University students yearly...thoughts?

Question

I'm just wanting to see if their truth to his claims. He's claiming that he's gonna be getting in excess of $6000 from the British Columbian gov't every year as long as he's in school. All in all, he's saying that the gov't will pay most, if not all, of your post secondary in the end.

Can someone please let me know to what extent British Columbia will fund a student attending a University in British Columbia...

Thanks.

Answer 1

go to the BC student loans website and check it out for yourself

http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/studentaidbc/w...

$6,000 for a whole year of school is not a lot of money if you are paying tuition, books and living expenses.  Unless he means that he is getting $6,000 in addition to tuition and books and living expenses?

BC has some loan forgiveness programs but they only deal with the provincial part of the student loan.  Your options are practically nil for the federal portion of the loan.

Here are some of the loan forgiveness options in BC

B.C. loan forgiveness program - Recent graduates in some specific professions can have their B.C. student loans forgiven by agreeing to work at publicly funded facilities in British Columbia. In some cases, eligibility also includes working in an underserved area of B.C.

B.C. Early Childhood Educator Loan Assistance Program - Under this program, recent early childhood educator graduates may be eligible for up to $2,500 to help them repay their B.C. student loan.

Pacific Leaders B.C. loan forgiveness program - Consider dedicating a portion of your career to the B.C. Public Service after graduation and we'll forgive your B.C. student loan at the rate of one third of the total per year. The program also applies to current full-time or part-time regular employees who have a B.C. student loan in good standing.

B.C. loan remission program - This program is designed to help you reduce your B.C. student loan debt to a more manageable level after graduation. If you qualify, the provincial government will pay down your outstanding B.C. student loans according to a loan remission formula.

B.C. interest relief program - This program helps people who have difficulty repaying their B.C. student loans because of low income and financial hardship.

B.C. debt reduction in repayment program - This program helps those who have exhausted all their B.C. interest relief time, have had their repayment period extended to 174 months, and are still unable to repay their debt due to low income and financial hardship.

B.C. permanent disability benefits program - If you are a student or former student who is or becomes permanently disabled during the lifetime of your B.C. student loan, you can apply to have your B.C. student loan forgiven in full.

B.C. loan reduction program - The B.C. loan reduction program helps students who must borrow most of the money they need to pursue their post-secondary education.

B.C. loan reduction for residential care aide and home support worker programs - The B.C. loan reduction program for residential care aide and home support worker students helps those who must borrow money for their post-secondary education.

Extended amortization for B.C. student loans - If you need help making your monthly loan payments, you may be able to revise the terms of your loan. Extending your amortization reduces the amount of each monthly payment, making it easier for you to meet your obligations.

Principal deferment - If you are having difficulty repaying your B.C. student loans, you can ask to have the principal payment deferred for a period of time.

Federal debt management programs

Federal interest relief  - if you qualify the government will pay your interest for a 6 month period.

Federal debt reduction - you exhaust all your interest relief periods and still cannot repay your loan, the government will reduce your loan over 3 years.  Your loans must be in good standing.  If you choose debt reduction you will never get another student loan until the whole thing (including the amount that was written off) is paid in full.

Revision of terms - you can have 15 years instead of 9 1/2 to pay your loan back.

Answer 2

Actually 6,000 a year sounds to be about the same amount that college kids in the US can get for free from the Government.  I'm not sure about the specifics for British Colombia but you can apply for federal Pell Grants in the US and get the same amount.