In April 2021, the BC government announced that it would be investing an additional $4 million towards emergency financial assistance for BC students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding boost came about as a result of students sharing the hardship that they had faced over the past year of the pandemic and the ongoing financial strain from tuition, housing prices, and job losses. The funding will be allocated to public post-secondary institutions and a number of Indigenous community-based institutions, who will distribute the emergency assistance to their students.

The ABCS published a white paper on the need for on-campus student housing for British Columbia’s post-secondary students – not only because it makes post-secondary education more accessible, but to free up market rentals to ease pressure on the housing market during an unprecedented housing crisis. After dozens of meetings with ministers and MLAs, government moved forward on our ask, committing $450 million.

The ABCS has been raising concerns of the mental health crisis facing students and asking for investments to increase access to counselling services for years. The introduction of the 24/7 online mental health service, Here2Talk, will now allow students to access quality virtual mental care and referral services whenever they need it. The service is now available for any student in BC who is struggling with their own mental health, or looking for more information on where to find support.

In June 2019, The Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training announced another major investment in the future of post-secondary students when they promised $9 million for co-ops and work-integrated learning opportunities. Previous work experience continues to become more essential to finding a well-paying job in a relevant field for recent graduates, yet most entry-level positions or internships significantly under-pay, forcing many students to continue struggling financially in order to access this employment. Ensuring that students are fairly compensated for their work is an important step for those transitioning from post-secondary to the job market.

In June 2019, the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training announced a $3 million in 19 public post-secondary institutions across BC to provide industry-level equipment to ensure students have a smooth transition into their field. In addition to supporting skills development and higher-quality education, having access to industry-level equipment also promotes safety by providing students with an opportunity to be familiarized with new equipment in the classroom environment. 

In March 2021, the BC government announced that it would be renewing the BC Graduate Scholarship Program through an additional investment of $3.75 million over two years. This investment will fund scholarships for 250 graduate researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as professional programs. Each scholarship will be worth at least $15,000 and are distributed through 10 of BC public post-secondary institutions. The ABCS is proud to advocate for accessible graduate education and is thrilled to see our advocacy result in this critical investment.

In 2004, needs-based grants were cut from the financial aid options provided by the provincial government. In 2013, the Alliance was formed and launched a provincial campaign entitled “Where’s The Funding?” which called on the province to reinstate needs-based grants and provide more core-funding to institutions. Thanks to the tireless effort of student advocates since then, undergraduate students in BC will now once again be able to access provincial non-repayable, up-front financial aid through the BC Access Grant program. The investment of $24 million over 3 years will provide up to $4,000 in funding to over 40,000 eligible students per year.

In February of 2019, the BC government announced that it would be removing interest on provincial student loans through a $40 million investment. The Alliance has fought since it was founded to have interest removed on student loans, and our work finally paid off. Interest on student loans exacerbates existing inequalities by making the overall cost of education for low- and middle-income students higher than those who are able to pay up-front, making this one of our biggest successes in reducing barriers and increasing access to education.

In June 2019, on the heels of a provincial forum for preventing sexual violence on campuses, students celebrated the province’s commitment of $760,000 toward sexual violence prevention. This funding goes towards several initiatives, including support work to make sure that policies and procedures are in plain language that people can actually understand, and will support coordinated initiatives to help post-secondary institutions work together and share resources to address sexual violence on BC campuses. The resulting work of this funding is still ongoing.

In July 2018, the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training announced it was investing in the creation of a scholarship fund to support graduate students across the province. The $12-million scholarship fund was allocated among 10 public post-secondary institutions in B.C. that offer graduate degree programs, supporting 800 awards of $15,000 each through 2021. This announcement came on the heels of the ABCS calling upon the government to provide access to scholarships for graduate students back in 2017, making this a huge win for us and our graduate student members.