Financial Aid
Financial Aid
The purpose of financial aid is to assist students’ preparation for pastoral ministry or lay leadership in the church, and to respond to special financial circumstances. The seminary’s financial aid consists of any or all of the following: grants, recommendations for government loans, recommendations for part-time employment (on or off campus). Further assistance may be available from your home congregation, your District Office, and your relatives.
Financial aid is intended to supplement, not replace, the student’s own resources, and will be administered in such a way as to affirm the financial responsibility and integrity of both the student at the seminary.
Funds for internal financial aid derive from various sources: direct gifts from congregations, groups and individuals; offerings from Opening Service and Reformation Service; and interest from endowment funds.
Normally, financial aid will be offered only to full-time students preparing for pastoral ministry in Lutheran Church-Canada, who are not on academic probation.
Student Loans
At CLS we discourage students from relying on student loans from provincial or federal programs if at all possible. Instead, we hope to provide for students through internal financial aid drawn from endowed funds, our robust Adopt-a-Student program, and other sources. However, there are times and situations where applying for a government supported loan might be necessary. CLS is recognized as a designated institution through the Alberta Institution Divinity Program Designation Contract, and full-time students in the Master of Divinity program are eligible to apply for provincial and federal student loans.
For detailed student loan information and the online application: studentaid.alberta.ca.
If you use a student loan while you are a student at CLS, or if you have previous loans incurred during your undergraduate degree, you should register for online accounts with both the provincial Student Aid Alberta Service Centre and the federal National Student Loans Service Centre.
As you near the end of your program, we encourage you to speak with the Registrar or the Director of Financial Aid about your student loan repayment options.
Adopt-A-Student
CLS Adopt-a-Student Program Information
Thank you for exploring this exciting partnership program! Through the CLS Adopt-a-Student program, you, your group (LWMLC or Bible study group), or your church are able to connect with one of our seminary students (diaconal or pastoral) and provide support through notes of encouragement, prayer, and financial resources.
The relationship between an adopting person, group, or church and the student is for one year.
Donations that you give directly to the seminary for operations already keep tuition rates low and ensure that lights, heat, and salaries and expenses are covered. THANK YOU for this general support. In addition, donations earmarked for Financial Aid are pooled and used to underwrite seminary-assigned student Financial Aid. IN ADDITION, in order to enhance the relationship between students and individuals, groups, and congregations, we have the Adopt-a-Student program that generally provides smaller amounts of personalized support.
Seminary students have academic expenses for tuition and books (generally minimal), but also need money for housing, food, transportation, and other expenses (medical, incidentals). Many students have spouses and families. We review each student's needs from the Financial Aid application, and provide a generous financial aid package that may include anticipated money from the Seminary Guild or Adopt-a-Student donors, and generally covers the vast majority of the fiscal needs for a student and his family. The seminary goal is that a student does not go (further) into debt while attending seminary.
The diaconal program is a full year of academic work eligible for financial aid and/or adoption, followed by internship. The pastoral track is designed for three years of academic work and one year of vicarage (internship). Because congregations support interns and vicars, we do not provide financial aid or assign financially adopting groups to interns or vicars, but prayer and encouragement are always welcome.
Due to CRA requirements, YOU CANNOT SELECT OR CHOOSE THE STUDENT YOU SPONSOR, but the student needs to be initially assigned by our Financial Aid committee. Once the assignment is made, cards and notes can go to the student directly, but money that you need a charitable receipt for needs to come payable to the seminary and sent to us, which we route to them (both on behalf or your CRA status as a church and our status as a non-profit, faith-based organization). CLS will then issue a tax donation receipt to individuals (or acknowledgement of receipt to groups/churches), and we take care of the T4A to the students at end-of-calendar year. IF you send money directly to a student, CRA rules specify that you need to issue that student a T4A slip.
Although our tuition is quite low at $275/credit for LCC and partner churches, the total tuition and fees add up to a total of just over $40,000 for the four years. Books can be another $2500. Monthly expenses for rent are often $1000-1200; and Alberta figures for feeding a family of four are currently $1263.50.
Thank you for your support. If you have questions, please route them through aas@concordiasem.ab.ca