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HCOS Tuition & Resources

This page provides information and details regarding tuition & curriculum resources at HCOS.

On this page you will find:

Please note that the structure below is subject to change as we work to provide flexibility and reduce family impact over time wherever possible.

Tuition at HCOS: Why It Exists

breakdown.pngIn May of 2020, the Ministry of Education cut Independent Distributed Learning (DL) funding by 21%, or $793 per student. This resulted in significant challenges to an already lean school budget. Our amazing teachers and staff sacrifice financially to work for an Independent DL school, which is one key reason we have been able to provide IDL education without adding a tuition to the out-of-pocket expenses you already incur as families.

However, in order to continue providing the services that HCOS does, this reduction in funding resulted in the need to make adjustments. Here is how HCOS is making up the reduced funding amount:

  1. Tuition charges have been instituted.
  2. Resource budgets have been reduced. 
  3. Significant internal cuts to all areas of the school’s operation. The focus was on efficiencies in processes and staffing rather than items that would impact the programming or resources available for students.

Tuition, Tuition Assistance & Resource Budgets

HCOS strongly believes in providing flexible options to families.

We recognize that paying tuition to home educate is difficult. HCOS is committed to keeping this as minimal as possible and looking for opportunities to reduce or eliminate this impact where we can.

We are also committed to pursuing additional revenue streams in order to decrease family impact over time.

Our community is our priority. In determining internal cuts and family impact, we focused on ensuring students still have access to the support and guidance from our excellent teachers, grad advisors, administration and educational assistants. Resources like online subscriptions and learning commons kits and books are available to help reduce the cost of purchasing additional curriculum. 

K-9 Tuition & Resource Budget

Tuition Amount (per student) Resource Budget (per student)
$200 per year or $20 per month
 $600

  • Tuition is charged only for the first three K-9 children in a family. The fourth child and on are free.

  • One-time payment releases full resource budget amount immediately.

  • Monthly payment option available through pre-authorized debit (paid September to June) releases $350 initially and the remaining amount after first payment.

  • Tuition is non-refundable.
  • Available for third-party or internal spending.

K-9 Tuition Assistance Options

Home educating already requires financial sacrifice. In order to ensure that no student is unable to enroll due to finances, we are providing two assistance options:

$0 Tuition Option Bursary Option

  • No application necessary. Simply select this option.

  • $0 tuition

  • $350 Resource Budget (Available for third-party or internal spending)

  • Apply for a bursary. This process will be simple and non-invasive.

  • Bursary will offset full $200 tuition cost in most cases*

  • $600 Resource Budget (Available for third-party or internal spending)

* Bursary allocation will be determined by the volume of bursary applications and the available bursary finances. See below for more details on the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign

K-9 FAQs

Please see our Tuition & Bursary Family FAQs page for many more additional questions and answers.

I have a student in the Grad Program. Do they count as the first student in the family?
No. The student count is limited to K-9 students. Grad Program students have a different tuition structure (see below).

Am I able to help other families with tuition costs?
Absolutely! Please see the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign below for information on how to give. This gift would be eligible for a tax receipt as per the standard charitable donation rate.

Are there other ways I can help my fellow home educators?
Yes. Help your fellow home school families save money on curriculum by returning the school’s curriculum for reuse in the Learning Commons. When we can provide less expensive used curriculum for our families, they don’t need to use as much of their resource budgets to buy new instructional materials.

How can you help?

  • Return materials by post or in person to:
    • 905 Badke Road,
    • Kelowna BC, V1X 5Z5
  • Return materials directly to your support teacher

Community Connections (CC) & CC+

For Community Connections (CC) and CC+ tuition, please see the Learning Groups website for further information and registration.

Grad Program Tuition & Resource Budgets

The Grad Program functions per course, not as a whole student. Please keep that in mind in contrast to K-9.

Tuition Amount (per course) Resource Budget (per course)

Courses 1-4: $50 per course

Courses 5+: $0 per course

 Varies (see below)

  • Tuition is charged per enrolled course. The first four courses per year* per student are $50 each. Each course after that is free. A full time Grad program student tuition is equal to a K-9 student at $200.

  • At school enrollment, an estimated amount of courses for the year is selected. Payment is due at time of enrollment.

  • A monthly payment option is available through pre-authorized debit (paid September to June) for courses enrolled prior to September.

  • Courses enrolled from September on must be paid in full at time of course enrollment. 

  • Per course fees are not refundable. However, courses can be exchanged for a different course at no cost.

  • Individualized or Hybrid Elective Courses: $50

  • All Other Courses: $0

  • The Learning Commons is stocked with common resources for Individualized core courses and will be available for lending terms sufficient for course completion.

  • No restrictions on third-party spending versus internal

* For the purposes of course counts, a “year” is considered to be the period from the May funding snapshot to the following May funding snapshot (typically the first Friday of May). Courses that remain inactive by the end of the year will be removed without a refund.

Grad Program Tuition Assistance Options

Home educating already requires financial sacrifice. In order to ensure that no student is unable to enroll due to finances, we are providing a tuition assistance option:

Bursary Application

  • Apply for a bursary. This process will be simple and non-invasive.

  • Bursary will offset full course tuition costs in most cases*

* Bursary allocation will be determined by the volume of bursary applications and the available bursary finances. See below for more details on the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign

Grad Program FAQs

Please see our Tuition & Bursary Family FAQs page for many more additional questions and answers.

Can I access a K-9 sibling’s resource budget for my grad student if needed?
Yes. We will continue to treat resource budgets as a family budget in terms of accessibility for any student in the family.

Am I able to help other families with tuition costs?
Absolutely! Please see the HCOS Forward Together Bursary Campaign below for information on how to give. This gift would be eligible for a tax receipt as per the standard charitable donation rate.

Cross Enrollment Tuition & Fees

Cross Enrollment functions per course, not as a whole student. Please keep that in mind in contrast to K-9.
Type Amount

Grade 10-12 Courses: 

Proctored Exam Fee*: 

Adult Dogwood (school-age):

Adult (non-graduated):

Adult (graduated):

Grade 8-9 Courses:

International Students:

$35 per course

$15 per course

$50 per course (includes exam fee if applicable)

$75 per course

$650 per course

$215 per course

$925 per course

  • All tuition & fees must be paid in full at time of course or exam registration

  • There are no resource budgets available for cross enrolled students

  • Per course fees are not refundable. However, courses may be exchanged for a different course at no cost
* Advanced Placement Courses (AP) have additional fees associated with taking the AP Exam.

Cross Enrollment Tuition Assistance Options

There are no tuition assistance or bursary options available for cross enrollment.

Home School Registered

Tuition Amount (per student) Resource Budget (per student)
$0 $0

  • HS Registered students will continue to receive the support of our Home School Liaison

  • HS Registered students will continue to receive access to our Learning Commons, Subscriptions and Exam Bank

  • HS Registered students are able to receive a high school transcript for $150

PO Spending

PO numbers for resource budget spending are typically released at HCOS Connect each year at the end of April. Once tuition is paid, the full resource budget is released. Please see the K-9 tuition table above for details on partial resource funding release with the monthly tuition payment option.

HCOS Forward Together

FT_LogoBlkBlue.pngForward Together is about ensuring families have the freedom of choice in how to educate their children. We believe finances should not be a hindrance to enrolling at HCOS. Let’s work together to continue to make HCOS a viable option for all students.

We are looking for partners to help us continue to offer Christian Education through distributed learning to students all over the province of British Columbia. All donations are eligible for a tax receipt and will go to provide bursaries for families who cannot afford tuition. 

Donate to Forward Together

Corporate Sponsorship

Contact Chantelle Olsson-Chang, HCOS Advancement & Donor Relations, to discuss corporate sponsorship options at forward.together@onlineschool.ca

Bursary Application

Information related to applying for a bursary will be be included with the release of tuition communication.  Parents will be notified by email once the process is finalized and available.


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