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Scholarships for public servants: application and renewal

Last updated on April 3, 2024

This page has information and guidelines to support the completion of the Pacific Leaders Scholarships for Public Servants Application. While you can find complete details on the application form, this covers some additional information.

The Pacific Leaders Scholarships for Public Servants Program is for B.C. government employees aiming to attain a diploma, certificate or degree, not for those taking one or two courses.

Ministries may use their discretion to fund one or two developmental courses that don't lead to a certificate, diploma or degree. 

Only one scholarship can be approved every 365 days. Overlapping scholarships are not permitted.

On this page

Supervisor’s letter of support

  • If your supervisor is new, a letter of support from your previous supervisor will be accepted. Your current supervisor must provide a short note indicating their agreement to the application and the budgetary responsibilities
  • Suggestions for the content of the supervisor’s letter are on page 1 of the application form
  • Your supervisor’s letter of support must be written and signed within three months of your current application submission

Estimates for tuition and books

  • The estimated dollar amounts that you enter for tuition and books are only estimates and won't impact the amount you’re awarded.

Loan forgiveness and other scholarship funding

  • Review the Pacific Leaders BC Loan Forgiveness or Pacific Leaders Scholarships for Children of Public Servants program pages for loan forgiveness and scholarship information
  • If you're participating in the Pacific Leaders BC Loan Forgiveness program, you can still apply for Pacific Leaders Scholarships for Public Servants or Scholarships for Children of Public Servants programs. The programs operate under the same umbrella, but are focused on different parts of an employee’s career progression
  • You can receive funding from other scholarships unrelated to Pacific Leaders. If you're reimbursed through another source for any portion of tuition and books, you're expected to subtract that amount prior to submitting a request for reimbursement
  • You cannot apply for more than one Pacific Leaders Scholarship at one time, but you can apply for subsequent scholarships in future years. Review the renewal section on this page for more information

Program requirements

  • You do not have to be registered in your program when you apply for a scholarship, but you must be registered before you can be reimbursed
  • Only submit the application form with one program listed; the scholarship will only be granted for one program at a time
  • An application that does not clearly show which single program is being applied for will be rejected
  • Refer to your chosen program consistently throughout your application package
  • Scholarships are for future studies and cannot be applied retroactively. Do not apply for a scholarship for a program you've already taken. If you have outstanding B.C. student loans from past studies, please review information on the Pacific Leaders BC Loan Forgiveness program web page
  • This scholarship is for those aiming to attain a diploma, certificate or degree, not for those taking one or two courses.

Scholarship renewal

  • Each Pacific Leaders Scholarship is for one 12-month period only. If your studies are ongoing, apply for a scholarship renewal in the same intake each year to ensure there’s no break in funding
  • Even if nothing has changed with your circumstances, you need to complete the application package fully so all criteria can be verified. This also allows your supervisor, and by extension your ministry, to affirm its ongoing commitment. In addition, transcripts indicating passing grades are required
  • If you received funding previously through Pacific Leaders for the same or a different program of study, your application would be considered a renewal

Academic transcripts and grades

Course assessment

Pacific Leaders is an academic scholarship, so only programs that measure and assess your course work success are eligible.

  • There must be tools (like exams or papers) that are marked and/or graded
  • Programs that only indicate attendance or completion are not eligible for funding
  • If courses are issued a 'Pass' or 'Fail' in lieu of a letter or number grade, you may be asked to provide a grade equivalency chart from your institution

Course completion

After completing your studies each year, you're required to provide your organization with a transcript showing you've earned 60 percent or a passing grade as defined by the institution, whichever is higher, on every course funded.

If you fail to meet the minimum grade requirement or withdraw from a course for which you were reimbursed, you must submit confirmation from your ministry that you've repaid any funds owed.

Renewal application

When submitting a renewal application, you must provide a copy of your transcript showing the grades you've received on Pacific Leaders Scholarship Program funded studies to date.

An unofficial copy of your transcript (such as a photocopy, scan or screenshot from a website) will be accepted. It must:

  • State your name
  • Contain your educational institution’s name (which can also be identified from a URL or logo as having originated from a designated institution)
  • List your recently completed courses
  • List when the courses were taken
  • List the grades received (for courses completed using Pacific Leaders funding)

If you did not submit claims for reimbursement on your last approved scholarship year, you must submit confirmation of this from your ministry, in lieu of submitting a transcript.

If none of your grades are available when you submit your renewal application, you must provide one or more of the following items in lieu of your grades in order for your application to be considered:

  • Interim grades for each course
  • A current transcript showing your courses as 'In Progress'
  • An email or letter from your academic advisor stating satisfactory achievement in your coursework to date
  • A course confirmation letter from your institution

If approved, your application would be considered 'pending' .

Your organization won't process any claims for reimbursement on your renewed scholarship year until your final grades are received.

If your transcript doesn't satisfy the above mentioned criteria, it will be rejected.

 

Contact information

For more information about scholarships for public servants:

Email
PacificLeadersEmployeeScholarships@gov.bc.ca