UBC plans to expand resources for its former youth in care students following the BC government’s announcements that there will no longer be age restrictions on access to the provincial tuition waiver for former youth in care.
On March 14, the BC government announced that as of August 2023, there will no longer be age restrictions on the provincial waiver for former youth in care, which was previously available only to those between the ages of 19 and 26. Evidently, the aim of this change in the waiver requirements is to make higher education more affordable, and consequently attainable, for the target demographic.
“We kind of leaned off of [recruitment efforts] a little bit to focus more on retention for our students because… some of these barriers don’t evaporate when you get admitted to UBC,” said Sabrina Materie, a UBC Enrolment Services advisor.
In 2019, UBC adjusted its internal tuition waiver for former youth in care, removing the maximum age for graduation. “Getting to [a] post-secondary [institution] but [graduating] before turning 27 can be a really big ask [for former youth in care]," said Materie.
This change was meant to act as “a safety net to catch students who didn’t qualify provincially,” Materie said. “Students who are on the UBC tuition waiver have been ineligible for the provincial one for one reason or another. One of those reasons is definitely age.”
Materie said it’s expected that at least some students will start receiving funding from the government instead of the university, leaving “room to expand … to different supports for former youth in care who are on campus at UBC specifically.”
Even without the age restriction, the provincial waiver maintains more stringent requirements for the amount of time youth spent in care relative to the one UBC offers. Thus, the extra support internal to the university will remain in effect to account for those restrictions which remain under the provincial one and ensure more youth are covered, financially speaking.
According to Materie, the one caveat that exists is some uncertainty among students who have already experienced a lot of bureaucracy. She said “there are a lot of gray areas,” which can be overwhelming and confusing to navigate at times.
Regardless, the overall response to this change in the fee waiver has been extremely positive in the former youth in care community, and is a testament to the community’s voices and feedback being acknowledged and accounted for by the government.
“I think this change to the provincial tuition waiver program will benefit a ton of students at UBC, and in the province at large, who needed this time to get on their feet and get to a point where they’re stable enough to succeed in post-secondary [education]. [It’s] also recognizing that [the waiver] improves their outcomes lifelong, because undergraduate degrees are now so necessary to the labour market.”
In addition to the provincial waiver program, eligible students will also be able to apply for grants up to $3,500 every year to cover costs external to tuition, such as textbooks and electronics.
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