NWCC to share in 2.3 million dollars for First Nations Education Plan

As students head back to the classroom this September, post secondary institutions across the province have received some welcome funding from the Provincial government, a financial increase that is designed to create better access to education after high school.

On Tuesday the Ministry of Advanced Education announced the details of the new funding program which will be directed towards eleven post secondary institutions, three of which serve Northern British Columbia.

Northwest Community college will receive $341,831 as part of the Aboriginal Service Plan Funding Program, to assist the college in providing support towards new and continuing programs and services.

NWCC campuses in the Northwest will be seeing an increase in funding from
the province towards Aboriginal Education Service plans

The College of New Caledonia with receive $375,000 in funding, while The University of Northern British Columbia will receive $200,000 as part of the program.

“Post-secondary education and training is an important opportunity for Aboriginal students working to secure a future for themselves and their families,” ... “The various programs and services delivered by our colleges, institutes and universities through Aboriginal Service Plans will support students to begin and complete their post-secondary training and education.” -- Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson

Nanaimo's Vancouver Island University received the largest share of the funding from Tuesday, with over $600,000 to be forwarded to that post secondary institution.

Other post secondary institutions to benefit from Tuesday's funding announcement included:

Camosun  College, Victoria -- $499,000
University of Victoria, Victoria -- $200,000
North Island College, Courtenay -- $404,337
Nicola Valley Institute, Merrit -- $250,000
Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops -- $214,000
Vancouver Community College, Vancouver -- $225,000
Capilano University, North Vancouver -- $272,500

The money is in addition to one time funding that has been distributed to the other 14 public post secondary institutions to deliver programs and services that support Aboriginal learners.

You can learn more about how the money is to be used from this background item from the Province of British Columbia.

More background on post secondary education in the Northwest can be found on our archive page.