265 BC Aboriginal students will share over $800,000 in awards
Victoria, B.C. Nov 26, 2013 – The Irving K. Barber British Columbia Scholarship Society has granted a total of $813,000 to a record 265 Aboriginal students in BC to support their studies at post-secondary colleges and universities throughout the province. This represents a near doubling in the number and value of Aboriginal Awards granted by the Society the previous year.
The Society’s Aboriginal Awards program is funded from the returns on a $12 million endowment fund established by the Province, and an additional $2M fund created in 2012 to encourage more Aboriginal students to become teachers, and $1M for Aboriginal students pursuing Masters and Doctoral studies. Awards of between $1,000 and $5,500 each are issued to students through a competitive process every year. The awards programs are intended to assist in removing barriers to higher education for the province’s Aboriginal peoples.