Student debt can feel like a full bucket of water, weighing a post-secondary graduate as they try to establish themselves in the world.
The University of the Fraser Valley’s Faculty and Staff Association (FSA) plans to lighten that load slightly by taking a drop out of bucket for students carrying the heaviest loads.
In a new contest, 30 Drops Out of the Bucket, the FSA is accepting applications from current and former UFV students from any department who have completed at least one course at UFV since Sept. 1, 2005.
The 30 applicants with the greatest debt load will each receive $1,000 cheques, “thus 30 drops will be taken out of the ‘bucket of student debt’ that currently exists in our province,” according to an FSA press release.
The FSA is sponsoring the contest with its union dues and in collaboration with the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators, the release says.
According to the FSA, the average B.C. university student with a loan now graduates $35,000 in debt and pays the highest interest rates in the country.
The association blames the provincial government, saying per-student funding has dropped 20 per cent since 2001.
Applications must be in by fax, email, mail or in-person by 4 p.m. Thursday April 6. Winners will be announced by April.
UFVFSA Contest: 30 Drops Out of the Bucket
Attn: Communications Committee
University of the Fraser Valley Faculty & Staff Association
Room B377 – 33844 King Road
Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8
Fax: 604-853-9540
Email: FSA.Info@ufv.ca
