BC Offshore School Program

Summary

Established under the BC NDP in 1998, British Columbia’s Offshore School Program grew from one school to a peak of forty-five, with the majority of its growth occurring under the BC Liberals. Today, there are 37 schools operating in 12 countries; 23 of these schools, or 62%, operate within mainland China. 

Problem

This program reportedly operates on a cost-recovery model. However, the accuracy of these cost recoveries is questionable. There are no quantifiable attempts to measure this program’s success. There is clear evidence that the BC curriculum has been modified for students in mainland China. 

Private, for-profit, operators charge $13,000–$14,000/year in tuition fees and generate tens of millions in revenue off of the strength and credibility of BC's Dogwood Diploma. The Province of BC does not receive any tax revenue from these offshore profits. 

Solution(s)

1: Convert to for-profit model

As of 2023, the Province of BC recovered an average of $4.97 million annually from the offshore schools program. Simply applying a “Cost Recovery + 20%” model to this existing program, would allow students abroad to continue learning the BC curriculum and easily generate more than $1 million annually.

or

2: Terminate the program.