District/Authority scholarship allocations and reporting: information for administrators
Last updated on February 6, 2025The District/Authority scholarship recognizes high school graduates who have demonstrated excellence in one of seven areas of achievement.
Each year, 5,500 District/Authority scholarships are proportionally distributed across school districts, as well as the independent school system through the Federation of Independent School Associations (FISA), based on the Grade 12 enrolments as of September 30 of the award year (September 1–August 31).
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Eligibility
The ministry sets core eligibility requirements and general guidelines; local scholarship committees determine awarding criteria and select their conditional recipients.
Students who are selected as conditional recipients by their district/authority must be in their graduating year and satisfy the following requirements by August 31 of the award year to be confirmed as a recipient and receive their scholarship voucher.
Requirements:
- Meet core eligibility requirements
- Fulfill the graduation requirements of either the B.C. Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma) or the B.C. Adult Graduation Diploma (Adult Dogwood)
- Meet criteria determined by the student’s local scholarship committee, including demonstration of outstanding achievement in one of the areas listed within the awarding guidelines below
Confirmed recipients receive a scholarship voucher for $1,250. They can use this voucher to be reimbursed by the ministry for tuition paid at a post-secondary institution that is designated by the Province of B.C. (i.e., approved for Canada Student Loans) or a program provider that is approved by SkilledTradesBC.
Students have five years to redeem their District/Authority scholarship vouchers; an expiry date is printed on each voucher and extensions are not possible.
Key dates
- June 30: lists of conditional recipients due to Ministry of Education and Child Care
- September: conditional recipients checked against eligibility requirements
- November: paper scholarship vouchers mailed to confirmed recipients
Allocations
Guidelines
Reporting conditional recipients
Districts and FISA must submit their lists of conditional recipients to the ministry annually by June 30 of the award year.
Instructions for how to report students can be found in the PDF document below, including an (optional) tip for how to export student data from MyEducation BC.
Contact information
Please contact the Provincial Scholarships Program team for assistance: