Repaying Your British Columbia Student Loan

Repay BC Student Loans

Did you know that you can start repaying your BC student loans before they are actually due – while you are still in school? You can, and there is a great deal more that you need to know about repaying your British Columbia student loan as well.

Start by fully understanding the repayment terms of the loan. First, it is your responsibility to contact the lender, in this case the Province of British Columbia, that you have left school at least six months after you’ve done so. This applies whether you graduate, transfer, drop out, or stop taking a fulltime course load for any reason. Your payments must start six months after leaving school or moving to part time studies.

It is also important to realize that when you repay your student loans – Canada Student Loans and your BC Student Loans are not the same thing, and are paid back separately. This means that you must also contact the National Student Loan Service Centre for your Canada Student Loans.

Although Risk Sharing loans and guaranteed loans are no longer issued, it is possible that you may owe on this type of loan, if you obtained one before they were no longer issued. These loans must be repaid, and they must be paid to the bank or lending institution that originated the loan. Your direct lend loans are paid to the BC Student Loan Service Bureau.

For these types of loans, the first thing that you will may do is to sign a consolidation agreement, which will automatically be sent to you. This consolidates all of the outstanding BC Student Loans that you have. You must consolidate all of your Canada Student Loans separately.

You will need to set up automated payments, if possible. This way, payments can be made directly from your bank account, so you won’t have to worry about late payments. Additionally, payments can be made over the telephone and online. This is the smart way.

If it is at all possible, you need to start repaying your BC student loans while you are still in school, or immediately after leaving school instead of waiting out the six month grace period. Payments made during these times are applied directly to the principle owed, and not interest. In the long run, this makes your education less expensive, because you will pay less interest. You can contact Student Aid BC to get information regarding how you start early payments.

Do not ignore your British Columbia student loans! If you are having financial difficulties, there are many programs that can be accessed through BCSL Service Bureau so that your loan does not go into default. On direct lend BC student loans, the loan is in default if it is 150 days past due. However, missing just one payment will result in a negative report to the credit reporting agency, and missing two payments will make you ineligible to receive anymore BC student aid funding. Additionally, you will have to pay added interest charges, and you will have to deal with collection agencies. Your tax refunds could also be withheld, as well as GST rebates, and your wages could be garnished. The government can even take your property to satisfy the debt. Guaranteed loans are in default status at 180 days and risk sharing loans are in default status after missing two scheduled payments.

If for any reason you are having trouble paying your BC student loans, contact the BCSL bureau to take advantage of one of the repayment assistance programs as soon as possible to avoid default status.

Visit: British Columbia Student Loan for more information about repaying your BC student loans, and be sure to visit the Student Aid BC website at and make sure that you understand the terms of repayment, and get a jump on those payments early if it is at all possible.

Repaying BC Student Loans Resources

BC Interest Relief