250% spike in enrolment in free post-secondary tuition program for ex-foster kids

Nov 20 2018, 4:11 am

An influx of ex-foster kids are enrolling in BC post-secondary institutions following the provincial government’s decision to waive their tuition fees last year.

The Provincial Tuition Waiver program offers free tuition fees for students who are former youth in care between 19 and up to their 27th birthday.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Advanced Education, 687 former youth in care are benefiting from the provincial tuition waiver program.

This is compared to 189 youth in 2016-17 who took part the initial voluntary program.

“This is a 250% increase,” Rodney Porter, media spokesperson for the ministry, told Daily Hive.

“The total investment since the program launched in September 2017, is $2.6 million.”

The table below shows the current enrolment of various post-secondary institutions around BC. This also includes the Native Education College.

foster

Ministry of Advanced Education

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