3 Tips to Help You Pay for University

Advice from VIU’s Financial Aid & Awards office

So you want to attend university, but you’re not sure how you’re going to pay for it? The good news is most students don’t realize how much is potentially available to them. Here are several tips from VIU’s Financial Aid & Awards office to ensure a smooth monetary start to your post-secondary journey.

Start Planning Now
If you plan to apply for a StudentAid BC loan or grant, get your application in sooner rather than later – apply at least eight weeks before your tuition is due. Students may also be able to access free grant money tied to student loans. VIU Financial Aid staff are happy to support students through the process.

Apply for Scholarships
Last year, VIU gave out more than $2.4 million in scholarships, awards and bursaries, including full-tuition scholarships through the President’s Scholarship program. The good news is applying for these scholarships is done via one online application – but there are still a couple deadlines to meet!

Once you are enrolled at VIU, you can apply by filling out your Scholarship, Award and Bursary profile in your online student record. The deadline for scholarships and awards is March 31 and October 31 for bursaries.

As well as VIU’s internal scholarships, you can search the wide range of available external scholarships. Visit VIU’s External Awards page for a detailed listing.

Do a Budget
The Canadian Government offers a handy Student Budget Worksheet that will help you determine if your budget is realistic. Fill it out to get a head start on ways to save.

Need more info? VIU’s Financial Aid & Awards office is happy to help – drop them a line!