Pay for Post-Secondary: A Student’s Guide for Securing Financial Aid

Floor Nusselder*¹, Hannah M. R. Burrows*¹, Alyssa Giovannangeli^1,2, Adrianna Armstrong¹, and Yanxin Xu¹

¹Queen’s University
²McMaster University

*denotes equal contributions as first authors

Introduction

We began this project in response to literature highlighting the inaccessibility of higher education due to financial barriers (see Burrows & Nusselder, 2023). Simply put, higher education is expensive. Research shows that:

• 34% of 18-to-24-year-olds who do not pursue post-secondary education attribute it to its financial burden (National Student Clearinghouse Research Centre, 2023).
• Debt for a bachelor’s degree in Canada averages at $28,000 (Statistics Canada, 2023).
• 64% of students who graduated with student debt still had outstanding debt after three years (Galarneau & Gibson, 2020).
• Average tuition continues to rise in full-time undergraduate and graduate programs nation-wide (Statistics Canada, 2021).

However, there are many benefits from pursuing higher education. To list some:

• Higher education is associated with higher income (see Statistics Canada, 2024).
• 70% of new jobs in Canada require a post-secondary degree (Morissette, 2023).
• Individuals with a higher education degree have greater job resources (e.g., income, variety, autonomy; Solomon et al., 2022).
• Most students who pursue higher education report high levels of job satisfaction (Reid et al., 2020).
• Higher levels of education and income are associated with longer lives and good health (Boylan et al., 2022; Bushnik et al., 2020; Kawachi et al., 2010).

Importantly, Usher (2022) highlights that available public financial aid in Canada often exceeds the cost of tuition and living expenses for higher education. This means the current amount of available financial aid has the potential to cover tuition costs in Canada. We also found evidence that millions of dollars in scholarship money are left unclaimed each year due to a lack of applicants (Chong, 2022; Griffiths, 2022). This suggests that many students are unaware or unable to access these funds. Other research finds that financial self-efficacy – an individual’s confidence in their ability to achieve financial goals – is an important predictor of their financial behaviour (Mindra et al., 2017). Our market research supports these findings. We discovered that most students felt they did not have the tools or skills necessary to apply to financial aid (including scholarships) and post-secondary, and were not confident in their abilities. While this Guide is not the only solution, we believe it’s an important step to bridging that gap.

Features of the Guide

This project is an applied research initiative that utilizes evidence from psychological science and pedagogical research (visit The PSYC Corner in this Guide to learn more). This Guide aims to promote equitable access to higher education by fostering skills related to financial aid and scholarship applications. For more information about our work on this project, visit About This Project.

At the end of this Guide, students will be able to:

• Distinguish between the types of financial aid.
• Differentiate between the different types of scholarships available.
• Identify the costs associated with pursuing higher education and calculate their expenses.
• Critically analyze online webpages and recognize phishing attempts.
• Explain the various types of supplementary documentation.
• Distinguish the key components of an effective resume and cover letter.
• Describe the process and timeline for writing a scholarship application.
• Showcase common editing practices to improve their writing.
• Identify the components of a strong scholarship application.

This Guide has some very important features. The chapters in this Guide are designed so that students can complete them individually and at their convenience. We use a hashtag referencing system to help streamline the search and identification of content. Using the Contents section, you can identify keywords of interest. If you paste keywords into the “Search” function at the top right of the screen, all tagged resources will appear in your search results.

Throughout this Guide, you will come across in-text citations. Citations give credit to the person or organization who is responsible for an idea or research finding discussed, or when someone else’s wording is used. You may be familiar with citation practices from high school. If not, that’s okay! Owl Purdue is a helpful resource to become familiar with citation practices. Failing to appropriately credit someone else’s work is considered plagiarism and can have serious consequences. We discuss plagiarism in the context of scholarship applications in the chapter, Step-by-Step Guide to Scholarship Applications. Unless otherwise indicated, all content, handouts, and videos in this Guide were created by the authors.

Chapters each have their own URLs, meaning that you can easily share individual sections in addition to sharing the main link for the Guide. This book is open-access, with all content protected under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. This means you’re encouraged to share this resource with anyone you think might benefit from the information. More information about creative commons licensing permissions is available online (Creative Commons, n.d.).

There are no costs to using this Guide. We ask that you cite chapters in future work so authors can receive academic credit for their work. To help with this, recommended citations are included at the bottom of each chapter. To learn more about the project development team, visit About the Authors.

Unlike a typical scholarship database, our Guide is designed to equip you with the knowledge to find scholarships and create competitive applications. While we can’t guarantee the success of your applications, we aim to simplify the process, encouraging more people to apply and access the untapped funds.

The internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. Including a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors, and the authors do not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.

We want to provide students with the tools and resources needed to apply for funding, while helping to build confidence in their skills. This Guide aims to connect students who want to fund their higher education journey with the untapped scholarship money. We envision a future in which an individual’s finances are no longer a significant barrier to accessing post-secondary education.

Glossary

Citations
A method of providing credit, often in scholarly work, to the person or organization responsible for an idea, research finding, specific wording, etc.

Cover letter
A letter you write to introduce your specific and relevant skills and experiences to a prospective employer, organization, or program.

Debt
The amount of money you owe (e.g., to a bank or an external organization).

Editing
The detail-oriented process of making changes to your writing piece to address wordiness, grammar, and punctuation.

Financial aid
Funds from the government, private organizations, and/or from an educational institution to help students pay for their education.

Financial behaviour
How an individual manages their money (i.e., their spending and saving habits).

Financial burden
The cost of something straining your personal finances or being outside of your budget (i.e., beyond your means).

Higher Education
Schooling that happens after high school (i.e., University or College). Also known as post-secondary education.

Living expenses
Money that you will spend on your needs (e.g., housing, food, clothing, transportation, healthcare plans etc.).

Pedological research
A domain of research focused on understanding learning (e.g., what strategies help students learn best)

Phishing
An attempt to trick someone into sharing sensitive information.

Plagiarism
Presenting ideas, words, or work, created by someone else (which can include Artificial Intelligence software) as your own, without proper attribution or citation.

Psychological science
The field of study that uses the scientific method to better understand the processes that impact behaviour.

Resume
A summary of your skills and experiences.

Scholarships
A type of financial assistance to help pay for post-secondary education that you don’t have to pay back

Supplementary Documentation
All the documents required as part of an application (e.g., resume, transcript, PSE, income statement).

Tuition fees
The fees that you pay your educational institution for the schooling that you receive.

References

Boylan, J. M., Tompkins, J. L., & Krueger, P. M. (2022). Psychological well-being, education, and mortality. Health Psychology, 41(3), 225–234. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001159

Burrows, H. M. R., & Nusselder, F. (2023). Pedagogical solution to financial illiteracy in Canada: Increasing the accessibility of higher education. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/programs/research/2022-building-better-financial-futures-challenge/pedagogical-solution-financial-literacy-canada.html

Bushnik, T., Tjepkema, M., & Martel, L. (2020). Socioeconomic disparities in life and health expectancy among the household population in Canada. Statistics Canada. https://www.doi.org/10.25318/82-003-x202000100001-eng.

Chong, J. (2022). Millions in scholarship money goes unclaimed each year. Here’s how students tap thousands for their education. Toronto Star. https://www.toronto.com/life/money-matters/millions-in-scholarship-money-goes-unclaimed-each-year-here-s-how-students-tap-thousands-for/article_35e67e96-c2cb-5268-b44e-75cc8fe2d16c.html

Creative Commons. (n.d.). About CC Licenses. https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/

Galarneau, D., & Gibson, L. (2020). Trends in student debt of postsecondary graduates in Canada: Results from the National Graduates Survey, 2018 (No. 75-006-X). Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2020001/article/00005-eng.htm

Griffiths, A. (2022). Canadian scholarships by province. GrantMe. https://grantme.ca/canadian-scholarships-by-province/

Kawachi, I., Adler, N. E., & Dow, W. H. (2010). Money, schooling, and health: Mechanisms and causal evidence. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1186(1), 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05340.x

Mindra, R., Moya, M., Zuze, L. T., & Kodongo, O. (2017). Financial self-efficacy: A determinant of financial inclusion. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 35(3), 338–353. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-05-2016-0065

Morissette. (2023). Unemployment and job vacancies by education, 2016 to 2022. Statistics Canada. https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202300500001-eng

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. (2023). Current term enrollment estimates (CTEE) expanded edition. https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates/

Reid, A., Chen, H., & Guertin, R. (2020). Labour market outcomes of postsecondary graduates, class of 2015. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-595-m/81-595-m2020002-eng.htm

Solomon, B. C., Nikolaev, B. N., & Shepherd, D. A. (2022). Does educational attainment promote job satisfaction? The bittersweet trade-offs between job resources, demands, and stress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(7), 1227–1241. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000904

Statistics Canada. (2020). Half of recent postsecondary graduates had student debt prior to the pandemic. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200825/dq200825b-eng.htm

Statistics Canada. (2021). The Daily — Tuition fees for degree programs, 2021/2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210908/dq210908a-eng.htm

Statistics Canada. (2023). Table: 37-10-0036-01 Student debt from all sources, by province of study and level of study [Data table]. https://doi.org/10.25318/3710003601-eng

Statistics Canada. (2024). Table 37-10-0156-01 Characteristics and median employment income of postsecondary graduates five years after graduation, by educational qualification and field of study (STEM and BHASE (non-STEM) groupings) [Data table]. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710015601

Usher, A., (2022). The state of postsecondary education in Canada, 2022. Toronto: Higher Education Strategy Associates. https://higheredstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SPEC_2022-1.pdf