Funding Your Post-Secondary Education: A How To

Photo Credit: University of Toronto

With application deadlines for many universities and colleges approaching, graduating Hamber students are thinking more and more about how to fund their post-secondary education. School fees — including tuition, textbooks, and other pertinent educational needs — will be the primary expense. But students may also face numerous other expenses, such as housing expenses and transportation. Here are four common ways to fund your post-secondary education.

The most common found source of funding is student loans or student lines of credit. Student loans are typically government-sanctioned, meaning that the federal government works with provincial and territorial governments to create student loan programs. These loans are interest-free in BC but are only available to those who qualify for them financially. 

Most banks offer student lines of credit. They have varying rates of interest, but most rates currently hover around the national interest rate of 7.2 per cent.

Alongside student loans, the government offers student grants. Individuals receive a set amount of money from the government on a financial need basis. Unlike loans, however, grants do not need to be paid back. The Government of Canada calculates grant eligibility based on total family income in relation to family size. Details can be found on the official website of the Government of Canada.

Scholarships are a debt-free method of funding your post-secondary education. They are financial awards granted by a variety of organizations, ranging in value from a few hundred dollars all the way up to over $100,000. Scholarships have varying criteria for eligibility: some are based solely on grades, while others are application-based. Many scholarships are available to students of all backgrounds, though some cater specifically to marginalized communities.

One of the most highly sought-after scholarships offered in Canada is the Loran Award, valued at over $100,000. The Loran Award is an application-based scholarship that searches for outstanding students with excellent character. It is available to all graduating students with Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status who are entering university in 2024. They must hold a cumulative 85 per cent average. Applicants are considered through a rigorous selection and interview process. Unfortunately, as of Oct. 11, 2023, the Loran Scholar application portal is closed.

Another high-value scholarship is the TD Community Leadership Scholarship. It is open to all students of Canada in their final year of high school. Students must hold a grade point average of 75 per cent in their most recently completed school year. The scholarship awards up to $70,000 spread throughout the four years of a student’s undergraduate education. The TD Community Leadership Scholarship is also an application-based scholarship; it aims to recognize students who are community leaders and have worked to solve community social crises. TD awards up to 20 students annually with this scholarship. Applications are open until Nov. 15, 2023, and can be found on the official TD website.

Other options include university-specific entrance scholarships. A notable example is the UBC Presidential Scholars Award, which provides renewable awards of up to $80,000 for students demonstrating academic excellence and achieving several criteria. Most major Canadian universities offer entrance scholarships with varying eligibility requirements — more details can be found on each university’s official website.

There are also a myriad of smaller scholarships, some offered by the government, and some offered by organizations and banks. Many of them have strict eligibility requirements, are specifically meant for marginalized groups, or are for certain majors and fields of study. 

However, there is still a vast selection of scholarships that are open to all. Generally, students need to apply for these scholarships, but some government-sanctioned ones automatically register students. For example, the BC Achievement scholarship is automatically awarded to the top 8,000 academic achievers in the province. A list of minor scholarships with further details can be found by a quick online search.

A more traditional method of funding is working a part-time job or being part of co-operative education (co-op) during one’s studies. While a part-time job is generally dependent on an individual's availability, co-operative education is essentially paid work experience that is integrated into post-secondary academic studies. It is available to a host of programs across various fields of study. Not all majors offer co-op — additional details can be found on each university’s website.