Ensure Your School Is Designated

To be eligible for funding through StudentAid BC, you must attend a designated post-secondary institution.

All public universities, university-colleges, colleges and institutes in B.C. are designated.

However, not all private training schools or out-of-province schools have been designated by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development.

If you are attending a private post-secondary school in or outside B.C., or an out-of-province public post-secondary school, check here to see if your school is designated, which will mean you are eligible to apply for funding under StudentAid BC.

If your school is not designated, it is up to you to start the designation process by completing and submitting the designation request form [305kb].

It can take months to receive the required information from a school that will determine if it can be designated. You should start the designation process well in advance of your intended study start date. Not all schools meet B.C. designation criteria.

If you are not sure if your program of study is designated, contact the financial assistance officer at your school.

Correspondence, distance education and online learning programs

Students taking correspondence, distance education or online learning will automatically be considered for Canada student loan funding. However, students from a private in-province or out-of-province institution are not eligible for B.C. student loans unless one of the following three things is true:

  • Your distance education program has an equivalent course with an equivalent study period offered on site (at the institution itself) or the course is listed in the B.C. Transfer Guide.
  • You will earn the same number of academic credits in the same time period as students in other programs eligible for StudentAid BC funding, delivered on site at the same institution.
  • You will earn academic credits, in the same amount of time as the same course recognized at another designated institution listed in the B.C. Transfer Guide or other acceptable joint agreements from other jurisdictions.

If the program is not already approved for B.C. student loan funding, a confirmation of StudentAid BC distance education eligibility form [28kb] will be mailed to you before your B.C. student loan application is processed. This must be completed by the financial assistance officer at your school and returned to StudentAid BC for you to be considered for B.C. student loan funding.