VANCOUVER – The Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation (CST) Vice President, Peter Lewis and the BC Education Minister Mike Bernier joined together to launch the CST BC Bridge the Gap campaign to educate families about the importance of saving for a post-secondary education.
The campaign raises awareness of the BC Training and Education Savings Grant (BCTESG), launched by the government of British Columbia in August 2015 as well as other grants being offered by the federal government. The BCTESG provides $1,200 to eligible children with a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) born in 2006 or later.
As part of the campaign CST conducted a study through Ipsos and discovered one in three (33 per cent) BC parents is not setting anything aside for their children post-secondary education; even though the majority of parents (82 per cent) expect their child to attend some type of academic institution after high school.
“Our study finds there’s a real gap between parents’ expectations and the financial realties facing students today,” says Peter Lewis, Vice President at CST. “Parents have a lot on their mind, trying to juggle all of the financial priorities raising a family, but there is no reason they should go into debt thanks to government grant programs like the BCTESG and some careful planning.”
“The B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant is a great way to help make opportunities grow for B.C. students and help them achieve their goals,” said Minister of Education Mike Bernier. “Applying for the grant only takes three easy steps. I encourage all parents and grandparents to visit their local participating financial institution, open an RESP, and kick-start their child’s post-secondary education savings today.”
The study also shows a general lack of awareness amongst BC parents. Forty per cent underestimate the cost of a basic Bachelor of Arts degree in the province when student fees and books are factored in while only 47 per cent say they are aware of all the government grants available on opening up an RESP. This includes grant programs such as the BCTESG, Canada Learning Bond and Canada Education Savings Grant, which provide an opportunity to start saving early, even without making additional contributions.
With high expectations for education, and the majority (68%) agreeing that as a parent they should be paying for school, many parents anticipate financial challenges ahead.
Study key findings:
– 6 in 10 (59 per cent) agree they have or will encourage their child to pursue studies closer to home because of costs
– 4 in 10 (42 per cent) agree they will need to borrow money or go into debt to help their child
– 1 in 3 (32 per cent) agree they will need to dip into their retirement fund or delay retirement because their child will be in too much debt after going to university/college
