100% Tuition Subsidy: VST Student Bursaries and Tuition Support Plan
VST offers a number of Bursaries as part of its Tuition Support Plan that can help defray the cost of studies. Tuition support can be requested by students registered in VST degree or diploma programs, for 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of tuition, based on the student’s amount of financial need and registration status as indicated on the Tuition Support Application Form.
Deadlines for Bursary Applications and Updates for 2011-2012:
- • September 15, 2011 for Fall Term
- • January 14, 2012 for Spring Term
- • April 1, 2012 for Summer Term and 2012/2013 work-study applications
A Bursary and Tuition Support Plan Application Form form can be downloaded from Student Forms.
Master of Divinity by Extension students are also eligible for VST student aid. Please contact the office for details by phone at 604-822-9480 or email the Native Ministries Program Office.
Applicants are expected to supply a detailed budget as part of their application for VST bursaries. Applicants must demonstrate that they have searched for other possible sources of financial support including congregational and denominational assistance.
VST Scholarships
VST is pleased to offer 5 Entrance Scholarships. Two of these Scholarships cover a student’s full tuition throughout their degree program; two cover a student’s full tuition in their first year of study at VST, and a third Scholarship for up to $2,500.00 is granted to assist with relocation costs.
VST Entering Year Scholarships: Application Deadline – March 15th
1. Relocation Bursary
Qualifications: Awarded on the basis of financial need, relocation costs and residential expenses.
Benefit: $2,500.00 CAD
2. Promise for Public or Pastoral Leadership Scholarship
Qualifications: Awarded on the basis of demonstrated leadership, a promise of future ministry (lay, ordained or alternative), and given regardless of financial need.
Benefit: Full-tuition for a student’s entering year (up to a maximum of 30 credit hours). A student’s first academic year runs from May – April, and begins with Summer Term.
Part-time option: Students who will not be studying full-time in their entering year at VST may elect to receive a total of $6000 in tuition credits to be applied against their account over the course of up to 3 consecutive years of part-time study.
3. Academic Promise Scholarship
Qualifications: Awarded on the basis of past academic achievement and demonstrated potential for academic studies at VST, and given regardless of financial need.
Benefit: Full-tuition for a student’s entering year (up to a maximum of 30 credit hours). A student’s first academic year runs from May – April, and begins with Summer Term.
Part-time option: Students who will not be studying full-time in their entering year at VST may elect to receive a total of $6000 in tuition credits to be applied against their account over the course of up to 3 consecutive years of part-time study.
VST Full-tuition Scholarships: Application Deadline – March 15th
1. International Student Scholarship
2. Aboriginal Student Scholarship
Qualifications: Awarded on the basis of demonstrated leadership potential, demonstrated academic potential, and demonstrated financial need. Recipients will belong either to a First Nations community, or have citizenship in a country that is economically less advantaged. Recipients will demonstrate a firm commitment to use studies at VST to the benefit of his/her community or country of origin.
Benefit: Tuition fees for the maximum number of credit hours required in the degree program in which the student has been admitted, or the first 5 years of study, whichever comes first.
Scholarship eligibility, Academic Performance and Student Conduct:
In order to maintain the scholarship, the student must show evidence of satisfactory academic progress. Students disciplined under VST’s policy regarding inappropriate behaviour may be at risk of losing their scholarship. All scholarship recipients will be reviewed by the Faculty/Student Review Committee (FSRC) in January and May of each year. For more information on the FSRC, academic performance and student conduct policies, see VST’s Supplementary Calendar/Student Handbook.
Scholarship Application Procedures:
Applicants who would like to be considered for a scholarship are required to submit a Scholarship Application Form, along with a 300-500 word statement describing their qualifications for the scholarship(s), their goals for their studies at VST, and their vision for their public and pastoral leadership after graduation.
Good candidates for the scholarships possess authentic faith, imagination, vision, maturity, capacity for critical thinking, a keen sense of curiousity, and good communication skills.
Applicants agree that should they be granted a scholarship for studies at VST, that all or part of their statement may be published, along with their photograph, on the VST website and/or other VST publications.
Where appropriate, an applicant may request an oral interview in lieu of a written submission.
The Admissions committee (of either VST or the NMDP) will be the body to designate recipients, through the Registrar.
Application Deadline for Consideration for Scholarships: March 15th
Recipients of a VST Scholarship will be named and informed by April 15th each year.
Each of the Scholarships will be offered annually pending the availability of funds.
NOTE: Recipients are responsible for all student fees, living expenses, textbooks and incidental fees, and thus will need to raise considerable additional support for their program at VST.
Additional Sources of Financial Aid
H.R. MacMillan Clergy Grants Fund
VST manages the H.R. MacMillan fund for the Continuing Education of Clergy Please review the H.R. MacMillan fund policy and application form for more information.
Denominational Support
A student’s own congregation/parish/diocese/presbytery may be a source of financial assistance. In many cases, there is an established fund for students of theology or a willingness to offer some financial support.
Non-VST Bursaries and Scholarships
For information on bursaries and scholarships available from organizations outside of VST please read the Other Bursaries page.
Federal and Provincial Government
The Canada Student Loans program is available to Canadians in all provinces and territories except Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut who run their own student assistance plans. This means that, in addition to a federal student loan, you may also be eligible for student loans or grants from the province or territory in which you live. While eligibility for federal and provincial loans is generally assessed using a single application form, these programs have somewhat different rules. For details on student financial assistance programs, see the provincial/territorial financial assistance office or access their website through the links listed below. Information on Canada Student Loans is available through Human Resources Development Canada Student Loan website.
National Student Loans Service Centre
P.O. Box 4030
Mississauga ON
L5A 4M4
1-888-815-4514 (within North America)
1-800-2-225-2501 (outside North America)
FAX: 1-888-815-4657
www.canlearn.ca
You must apply through the province in which you currently reside. In some provinces, students may obtain a grant – money given without the expectation of repayment. In BC, however, only loans are available to graduate students. Some, but not all, provinces will provide aid to students studying out of province.
BC residents can apply for student loans at the Student Aid BC website.
The Vancouver School of Theology code for this application is APAP.
Information and applications for each Province can be found on the National Student Loans Service Centre website.
U.S. Student Loans
If you are from the United States, VST has been assigned a school code number (G30783) by the U.S. Department of Education. This designation enables students from the U.S.A. who are attending VST to apply for either a U.S. Guaranteed Student Loan or deferred payment of an existing GSL. To be eligible for aid, an American student must be registered in 18 credit hours per academic year (no less than 6 credits/term). Students must first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form online.
Off-Site programming is not eligible for funding through the federal loan program, but off-site students (i.e. students in the Native Ministries Program) may apply for a private student loan through a Sallie Mae Smart Option Loan. See www.SallieMae.com for more information.
For more information contact the Registrar at 604-822-9563 or By Email.
