Standing in front the Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus in Moose Jaw on Oct. 2, Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe promised to increase the Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship by 50 per cent, from $500 to $750 per year. This amounts to an overall increase of $1,000 over four years for eligible Saskatchewan students.
“This 50 per cent increase will boost the total amount offered over the four years of attendance from $2,000 to $3,000,” Moe said. “This comes directly off of your tuition costs. We expect that about 8,000 students in this province will benefit each and every year. Those students will come from lower middle income families.
“The Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship will continue to be delivered is an income tested program. Students attending our universities or technical schools are eligible to receive this scholarship, as our students in adult basic education or GED programs, the very people that are working hard to upgrade their education to put themselves in the very best position to succeed in their careers,” Moe said.
“More than 113,000 students have received the Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarships since it was introduced by our government, way back in 2012. It's just one program that was created by the Saskatchewan party to support our post-secondary students and to encourage students to stay right here at home to stay in Saskatchewan to pursue their studies.”
He added the Graduate Retention Program has been “the most aggressive program of its kind in our nation.”
“The Graduate Retention Program provides $20,000 in income tax credits to students who choose to live and to work in our province of Saskatchewan upon their graduates. More than 74,000 students have benefited from the GRP program.”
The provincial government currently provides about $90 million a year to 19,000 students through repayable loans and non-repayable grants.
The scholarship increase would be introduced in next year’s budget and will cost $2 million per year or $8 million over four years.
