June 26, 2025
Zero Fee Tuition Program Relaunches as Tuition Assistance Bursary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Town partners with Brazeau County to expand and enhance popular post-secondary initiative
The Town of Drayton Valley is pleased to announce the relaunch of its popular Zero Fee Tuition Program as the Tuition Assistance Bursary (TAB). This launch marks the next stage in the Town's commitment to facilitating local educational opportunities and empowering residents to pursue post-secondary studies within the community.
Key to the restructuring and expansion of this program is the Town’s recent partnership with Brazeau County; an alliance that has substantially increased annual tuition funding and expanded the eligible applicant pool to include residents throughout the entire Brazeau County region.
“We are incredibly excited to reintroduce our new and improved bursary initiative to the community,” shared Nancy Dodds, Mayor of Drayton Valley. “I’m especially proud that we can share the TAB program with a broader audience thanks to our strategic alliance with Brazeau County. It's both an investment in our people and in the future prosperity of our rural communities.”
TAB builds upon the success of the Town’s legacy post-secondary incubator, incorporating fundamental changes designed to empower local learners and ensure the program's long-term sustainability. While the core model remains consistent—providing one-time tuition awards based primarily on financial need—the TAB program introduces two distinct focus areas, each with its own funding cap.
The primary focus area supports students pursuing careers essential to community functions, such as emergency services, healthcare, and human services. Applicants in these fields are eligible for up to $5,000 in funding. The secondary focus area offsets up to $2,500 in tuition for programs that enhance quality of life and support a thriving community, including hospitality and tourism, parks and recreation, business and administration, and skilled trades.
At the heart of the TAB initiative is the promotion of equity and inclusion. Like its predecessor, TAB welcomes a diverse range of applicants, including recent high school graduates and mature students. Recognizing that job obligations or family commitments can often deter individuals from pursuing higher education, the TAB model is designed to be accessible, offering both financial assistance and support for blended course offerings (in-class and distance learning).
"Regardless of the types of students our program attracts, their outcomes remain the same," continued Mayor Dodds. "Community members get to pursue post-secondary education here at home, and these new skills position them to earn higher wages—either at their existing jobs or in new fields of employment. Ideally, these jobs will also be within our borders."
To maximize awareness of the TAB program, the Town has launched a two-month digital marketing campaign targeting prospective students across the Brazeau County region. This campaign encourages interested individuals to visit tabfund.ca, an informational website providing eligibility criteria, application procedures, and details on over 100 program options from TAB’s six partner institutions. Prospective students can apply for TAB funding directly through the website via an online form or by downloading a PDF application.
"Partnering with Drayton Valley on its Tuition Assistance Bursary program makes sense for our leadership," added Reeve Bart Guyon of Brazeau County. "It not only gives us the ability to make higher learning more attainable for folks who seek it, but the added bonus of keeping them here in the communities they love. And with each passing year, we grow a skilled labor pool that will benefit big industry and small business alike.”
The Tuition Assistance Bursary (formerly the Zero Fee Tuition Program) is a joint initiative of the Town of Drayton Valley and Brazeau County, designed to provide financial assistance to eligible students for their post-secondary tuition fees. The program aims to remove financial barriers to education and promote local talent development.
For further information about the Tuition Assistance Bursary program, please visit tabfund.ca.
Drayton Valley has long been susceptible to the boom-and-bust cycles of its primary industry: oil & gas. Town leadership developed the Zero-Fee Tuition Program in 2019 with the vision of growing an economy that was more diverse, and thus less susceptible to economic threats and shocks. When it launched, the Zero-Fee Tuition Program was only program of its kind in Canada.
Media contacts:
Jennifer Stone
Town of Drayton Valley
Intergovernmental Relations & Communications
780-514-2247
Ken MacInnis
Brazeau County
Communications Coordinator
780-542-7777