The BC government’s 2020 Budget has students and educators celebrating the introduction of an up-front, needs-based student grant program. The BC Access Grant is the first of its kind in BC in nearly two decades, and will help reduce student loan debt for thousands of British Columbians every year.

With the 2020 BC Budget just around the corner, students and their families are renewing their calls for the government to implement an up-front needs-based grant program to ease the burden of student loan debt. “BC has the lowest amount of non-repayable financial assistance – like grants – in Canada.”

As students across the province head to college and university campuses today, many of them will be thinking hard about their student loans. Without a student grant program in BC, debt is the only way half of all students and their families can afford to attend post-secondary education.

The Government of California has announced that it is providing two years of tuition fee free college for students graduating from California high schools. The initiative was approved with the recent passing of the state budget. Meanwhile in British Columbia, tuition fees continue to rise to historic levels, further strapping students with debt and closing the doors to those without the means to pay high up-front costs.

The BC Federation of Students has launched a campaign to educate students and young voters about the impact municipal councils have on their daily lives. The campaign, titled Your City. Your Vote., highlights the services run by municipalities and encourages voters to learn about what candidates are saying about issues that are important to them.

Students across the province are returning to college and university campuses today and experiencing what many might not expect: sticker shock from the cost of their textbooks. With textbook prices commonly in the range of $200 per book, students are beginning to fight back.

Students in British Columbia have launched a province-wide campaign, titled Fairness for International Students, to mobilize post-secondary students to fight for fairness, consistency, and predictability for international students in BC. British Columbia is highly reliant on the income from international students and charges the second highest tuition fees for international students in Canada.

The British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) has released a research document outlining many of the issues facing international students in British Columbia. The document focuses on BC’s economic dependence on international students, the instability of unregulated tuition fees, and the lack of support services for international students in BC.

The numbers are out, and they paint a picture that is not at all surprising: young people voted in the provincial election. According to Elections BC’s recently-released report, 56.2% of voters aged 18 to 24 voted in the May 2017 BC election.