Canadian govt financial aid programs

Parents Forum
1

<p>I posted this a week or so ago and no one responded. I thought I’d repost it because I think this is an important issue. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Canadian system for encouraing familites to save for college? Would such a program work here in the US? I’d appreciate hearing from any ex-pats (Cheers?) about how other countries help finance college education programs for their citizens as well.</p>

<p>Canadian solution to College savings </p>

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<p>The thread on pell grants made me curious about how other countries handle helping citizens afford secondary education. Canada has an interesting system as follows:</p>

<ul>
<li>ALL Canadian families have the option of contributing to a college savings fund for each child. Contributions are “matched” by the Canadian government as follows:
for families earning above $70,000, the government contributes $20 to the account for each $100 the family saves and contributes.
for families earning between $35,000 and $70,000, the Canadian government contributes 40 dollars for every $100 the family puts into the college savings account.
for families earning under$35,000, the government contributes 45 dollars for every $100 saved.</li>
<li><p>families earning under $35,000 get a $500 savings bond that is put into a special educational savings account for each child on birth.</p></li>
<li><p>Families earning under $35,000 also qualify for up to a $3,000 grant. Unlike our - families earning under $35,000 get a $500 savings bond that is put into a special educational savings account for each child on birth.</p></li>
<li><p>Families earning under $35,000 also qualify for up to a $3,000 grant. Unlike our Pell Grant, however, it is a one time grant for first year education and only offered to dependent students, not independent students (independent students in the US are eligible for pell grants, all qualifying low income students get pell grants up to approx. $4000 a year)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Details:<a href=“http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget04/pamph/paleae.htm[/url]”>http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget04/pamph/paleae.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;