Langara students cope with most expensive province

For Langara students, working and help from family are ways to pay tuition without taking on student debt, which according to the Bank of Montreal is worse in B.C. than anywhere else in Canada.

B.C. students have the most debt compared to other provinces

A 2013 BMO student survey states B.C. students can expect to accumulate $34,886 in student debt, ranking amongst the highest in Canada.

The average tuition per semester at Langara for full-time students is between $1,000 and $1,500, which does not include application fees and books.

Nathan Kay, a student at Studio 58, said he worked to save his own money to pay for his tuition.

“I was a production assistant on a shoot during the [Calgary] Stampede, I was a personal assistant to a musician and I also did promotional work,” he said.

Prior to moving to Vancouver, Kay worked and went to university in Calgary where he paid his own way through school and saved enough money to pay his tuition at Langara as well.

“I know the value of a dollar now . . . I taught myself that,” said Kay.

Decrease for family’s reliance in tuition funding

The survey also said Canadian students are relying less on their family to finance higher education, down eight per cent since 2012. However, history student, Wyatt Fiddick, said he begs his grandparents to help him with school fees.

“They will pay for each grandchild’s first degree,” he said.

Business marketing student Andy Yeh said he worked 30 hours a week last year to pay for his tuition while going to school full-time.

Yeh said although you can get burnt out from all the work, if you enjoy your job and your studies, the struggle is worth the hard work.

BMO suggests taking advantage of “student status” to save money by seeking out promotions available to students.

Across the border, an 18-year-old Duke University student, stage named Belle Knox, recently made headlines for funding her school through alternative means: porn.

Knox puts herself through Duke by flying to Los Angeles during school breaks to film hardcore sex scenes. In a Globe and Mail article that came out early this month, Knox said she could make up to $1,200 a scene which goes towards her $60,000 tuition fees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzWDPOKdq40

Reported by Karly Blats