Determining how to finance a university education can be stressful for parents and students, but Vanier Collegiate hopes to reduce that anxiety by hosting an informational evening with Conexus Credit Union.
“How to finance your education” takes place on Wednesday, June 8 at 7 p.m. in the library at the school. The event is for Vanier students in grades 10, 11 and 12 and their parents.
Some topics to be discussed include accessing Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), pursuing student line of credits and accounts, accessing the Canada-Saskatchewan integrated student loans program, attaining scholarships/bursaries/financial awards, and acquiring financial literacy tips.
The presenters will include someone from Conexus Credit Union, someone who will speak about scholarships and someone who will speak about student loans.
For more information, contact Christa Lapointe at 306-693-6744.
According to Maclean’s magazine, tuition is only part of the cost of going to university. There is also the cost of books, food, travel and the occasional beer.
Students who live at home while attending university usually spend $9,300 per year on average, while for youths who move away for post-secondary education, that figure is around $19,498.75 annually.
Since many undergraduate youths live off-campus while attending university — and spend $19,498.75 per year — Maclean’s calculated that such students spend 40 per cent on rent, 34 per on tuition, eight per cent on groceries, five per cent for food on campus, four per cent travelling home, four per cent on course materials and books, three per cent on alcohol, two per cent on daily travel to and from school, and one per cent on extracurriculars.
When it comes to paying for post-secondary education, Maclean’s found that only half of students are in debt with their schooling. However, the bad news is that parents are picking up the slack and not very efficiently.
Nearly two-thirds of students (58.7 per cent) told the magazine they did not have any RESPs upon which they could rely to fund their schooling.
Meanwhile, 39.6 per cent said their parents pay all, most or about half of their education; 37.5 per cent said student loans cover all, most or about half of their education; 87.2 per cent said they relied on bank loans; 30.7 per cent said they relied on earnings or savings; and 16.6 per cent relied on scholarships and bursaries.
Maclean’s found that the average amount of money that students spend on books each year is $773.
The least expensive programs for book purchases per year are computer science at $578, math at $628, music at $675, environmental science at $676 and international relations at $697.
The most expensive programs for book purchases per year are business at $874, criminology at $843, psychology at $827, art at $811 and chemistry at $806.
The average level of debt for each year of study is $9,217 in the first year, $14,052 in the second year, $19,033 in the third year, $23,396 in the fourth year and $28,858 in the fifth year or more.
