To receive any form of student financial assistance through StudentAid BC, you must meet all of these basic eligibility criteria:

• Be a Canadian citizen, a landed immigrant (permanent resident) or have protected person status.
• Have a valid Canadian social insurance number that does not start with 0, 3 or 8 (these social insurance numbers are not eligible for StudentAid BC).
• Be a resident of British Columbia.
• Be pursuing full-time studies as your primary occupation.
• Be enrolled in an eligible program of study at an eligible post-secondary institution.
• Be able to demonstrate financial need.
• Make academic progress and achieve satisfactory scholastic standing in each period of post-secondary study.

You are not eligible if you are:

• Delinquent or in default of previous student loans or are restricted from receiving student assistance due to an audit, overaward or similar reasons.
• Incarcerated or have any outstanding warrants for your arrest.

Normally, students are not eligible to receive benefits from the B.C. Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance while they are attending post-secondary studies. There is more information available on receiving inc#ome assistance while studying.

British Columbia residency requirement

To receive student financial assistance, you must be a British Columbia resident according to the criteria described below. To determine residency, students are classified either as Group A (dependent) or Group B (independent). This classification is also used to determine financial need.

Group A: Dependent

If you are classified as Group A (dependent), your residency is defined as the Canadian province in which your parent(s), step-parent(s), sponsor or legal guardian have lived most recently for 12 continuous months.

If your parents are separated or divorced, or if your parent is single, only one parent’s financial information is used to calculate financial need. This is the parent who is your main financial supporter.

Group B: Independent

If you are classified as Group B (independent), your residency is defined as the Canadian province in which you have lived most recently for 12 continuous months (excluding any time spent in full-time post-secondary study).

Your school eligibility

First, check if your school is designated under StudentAid BC. There is more information available:

• If you are studying at a B.C. private school.
• If you are attending two schools.
• If you are studying outside of B.C.

If you are studying at a B.C. private school

Here are some important things to consider before beginning your studies at a private post-secondary school in British Columbia.

Is your school accredited?

The provincial accreditation process ensures that standards of integrity and educational competence are met by private institutions offering post-secondary education in B.C.

Career training schools
The accreditation process is voluntary on the part of the school. However, students can only receive StudentAid BC funding if their private school is accredited by the Private Career Training Institutions Agency and has been designated by StudentAid BC.

Degree granting schools
Private schools that want to award degrees in B.C. must be approved through the Degree Quality Assessment Board. Students can only receive StudentAid BC funding if their private degree-granting school is approved and has been designated by StudentAid BC.

Signing an enrolment contract
Once you have been accepted by a B.C. private post-secondary school, you must sign an enrolment contract. Enrolment at an accredited school designated by StudentAid BC requires that you complete this contract.

The enrolment contract should contain the following information:

• Name and address of the school.
• Name of your course or study program.
• Start date, end date and duration of the course.
• Cost of the course.
• Date that the contract is entered into.
• Name, mailing address and signature of the student or guardian.
• Signature of the school official.
• A tuition payment schedule if you are paying by instalments.
• The school抯 tuition refund policy.

After you have read and signed the enrolment contract, the school must give you a copy. Keep it in a safe place.

If you are attending two schools

Attending more than one post-secondary school at the same time is called split enrolment. In some cases, students can receive StudentAid BC funding for courses taken at their second school.

Before registering at your second school, check with the financial aid office at your home school about student assistance options. The home school is the one that will issue your credential at graduation time.

You may be eligible for funding if the course or courses at the second school are:

• Offered with the same start and end date as those taken at the home school.
• An essential element of your study program.
• Counting for credit towards your certificate, diploma or degree at your home school.
• Either not offered by your home school or are full.

Your second school must be a designated school under the StudentAid BC.

Split enrolments involving private vocational/trade schools are not permitted.

If you are studying outside B.C.

Here are some important things to consider before you enrol in a post-secondary school outside British Columbia.

• Is your school designated for StudentAid BC funding?
• Are you registered in a correspondence, distance or online education program at a designated institution outside B.C.? If so, you may be eligible for a B.C. student loan. Click here for more information.
• Are you studying outside Canada? If so, you may need a power of attorney.

Financial need

How student assistance is calculated

StudentAid BC funding varies according to the student's financial situation, status, length of study program, number of dependants and other factors. This part of the website will help you find out how much aid you may be eligible for.

Financial need assessment

The amount of money you receive from StudentAid BC depends on your financial need, which is calculated using this formula:

Educational costs include:

• Tuition, fees, books and school supplies.
• Moderate standard of living allowance for shelter, food, transportation and miscellaneous costs.
• Child/dependant living expenses.
• Day-care expenses.

Student resources include student contribution, parental contribution and spousal contribution.

StudentAid BC subtracts your total resources from your total educational costs to calculate your assessed financial need.

You can complete the budget worksheet [154kb] to get a better idea of your maximum funding amount.

Your assessed need is then compared with the maximum weekly funding limit allowed for your study period. The lesser of these two amounts is what you are eligible to receive.

There are also lifetime funding limits you should be aware of when planning your post-secondary education.

Student financial contribution

You are expected to contribute as much as possible to the cost of your own post-secondary education. The more you contribute from your own resources, the less you will have to borrow and repay.

What you are expected to contribute

The financial contribution expected from you will vary depending on your total savings, income earned, or other financial resources. This money must be used to help meet your educational costs.

Under StudentAid BC, any non-taxable income and assets are also considered to be part of the student contribution, and will be assessed at up to 100 per cent of their value.

If you are classified as a Group A (dependent) student, StudentAid BC may also expect a parental contribution from your parent(s), step-parent, sponsor or legal guardian.

If you are married or living common-law, a spouse/partner contribution may also be expected.

Parental contribution

Federal government policy states that "parents are expected to plan for and make adequate financial preparation in anticipation of the student's post-secondary education. It is expected that the funding of the student's education will be a priority for the family. Situations that arise due to a lack of preparation or due to the directing of resources towards priorities other than the student's education will not normally be considered."

What your parents are expected to contribute

If you are a Group B (independent) student, no parental contribution is expected. However, if you are receiving money from your parents, you should declare this on your StudentAid BC loan application.

If you are a Group A (dependent) student, a financial contribution may be expected from your parent(s), step-parent, sponsor or legal guardian. We will assess the amount based on family size, income and allowable deductions (such as income taxes payable, Canada Pension Plan contributions and employment insurance contributions).

Your parents' financial assets (term deposits, stocks, bonds, GICs, bank accounts and rental properties) will also be considered in the assessment.

Because the assessment process is complex, you are encouraged to contact StudentAid BC if you need more information about parental contributions.

Spouse/partner contribution

If you are married or living common-law, your spouse or partner will be expected to make a financial contribution toward your education while you are attending post-secondary school.

If your spouse/partner is also attending school full-time, or is at home caring for your children aged under 11, no contribution is expected.

Assets owned by you and your spouse/partner will be considered by StudentAid BC in determining your need for student funding.