Student Information Management System (SIMS) Institution Account

StudentAid BC is transitioning to the new Student Information Management System (SIMS) Institution Account for post-secondary institution users.

As part of our phased project plan, the new SIMS Institution Account is now available for post-secondary institutions who have students applying for part-time assistance. In the future, this system will be expanded to manage all student applications. Read the SIMS Project Overview to learn more.

SIMS Update Information:

SIMS Institution Account Updates and Enhancements

The following release updates outline the enhancements and bug fixes made to the SIMS Institution Account. Enhancement updates will be added here on a regular basis.

SIMS Releases (last updated May 1, 2025)

Release 2.8 – May 1, 2025
Enhancements:

  • Added ability for institutions to provide more detailed information about their online program offerings. B.C. post-secondary institutions can now specify if their online or blended programs are synchronous, asynchronous, or both, as well as the percentage of online delivery.
  • Updated system to ensure that any new or edited programs submitted by B.C. private institutions with 100% online delivery are now set to ‘pending’ for Ministry review. Programs marked as blended or onsite-only are not impacted by this change. A warning banner is also now displayed when “online only” option is selected to notify users that the program requires review. This applies to new fully online programs, as per StudentAid BC policy.
  • Added search, filter and sort features to the PIR queue. The table layout was updated to show key details such as Submitted Date, Application Number, Student Name, Program, Intensity, and Dates.

Bug Fix:

  • Fixed error in the bulk upload feature which was incorrectly flagging valid CVS files as invalid.

Release 2.6 – March 20, 2025
Enhancements:

  •  Extended the number of days before student applications get archived. Applications will now remain accessible for up to 365 days post study allowing institution users to report scholastic standing changes or complete other necessary tasks without interruptions.
  • Improved clarity around the Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) process. Institution users can now easily see the date when enrolment was confirmed or declined as this is now displayed next to the enrolment status.

Bug Fix:

  • Fixed an issue with the change approval icon that was preventing the status text to display. The status icon is now correctly outlined and clearly shows the text “change awaiting for approval.”

Release 2.5 – February 27, 2025
Enhancements:

  • Introduced a  new “read-only” user role  to support institutions that have staff who serve in advisory roles and are not authorized to modify data or make changes to student applications or institutional offerings.

Bug Fix:

  • Fixed errors to correct unnecessary or incorrect warning messages in various processes (submitting change requests, uploading files, selecting dependants in the family information tab, and adding offerings).
  • Fixed error that was causing the ‘0’ to disappear from the ‘Unfunded Study Period Days” field. The ‘0’ now remains visible, as expected, when no unfunded study period is present.

Release 2.4 – February 6, 2025
Enhancements:

  • Developed a new “read-only” user role to support institutions that have staff who serve in advisory capacities and are not authorized to modify data or make changes to student applications or program information. Please note this feature is not currently available to users as work is ongoing. More information will be available in an upcoming release.

Release 2.2 – January 9, 2025
Enhancements:

  • Removed the $0 or ineligible disbursement requests so these will no longer appear in COE (Confirmation of Enrolment) dashboards, reports, or ECE (Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment) files.
  • Improved the "Offerings Upload" feature, allowing institutions to import multiple offerings at once.

Bug Fix:

  • Resolved an issue to ensure that when an institution user enters "0" for study cost fields such as Exceptional Costs, Tuition, Mandatory Fees, or Books and Supplies, the value is saved correctly and does not trigger an unnecessary information message. This applies consistently across part-time and full-time offerings.

Release 2.1 – December 6, 2024
Bug Fix:

  • Resolved an issue in the Program Information Request (PIR) functionality where the program name and program description entered by students during the application process were not displaying correctly in the SIMS Student Account application view or the SIMS Institution Account PIR view. This will ensure that institutions can identify the program for which a student has submitted a PIR.

Release 1.15 – November 14, 2024
Enhancements:

  • The character limit for offering names has been expanded from 50 to 100 characters across all instances where the offering name is referenced, improving clarity and accuracy in program identification.
  • Total income amounts used for assessment purposes are masked with X's for students from BC public institutions, ensuring compliance with CRA data presentation guidelines.

Release 1.13 – October 4, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Added functionality to provide customizable system alerts to the Institution Account to inform users about system enhancements, bug fixes, and planned outages.
  • Added ability to pull Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) reports for BC Public Admin Users.
  • Revised Study Period Offering length validations using “Total Funded Weeks” instead of number of days between study start and end dates.

Release 1.12 – September 12, 2024
Enhancements:

  • URL Updates – The new Institution Account URL is sims.studentaidbc.ca/institution
  • Extend time limit for inactivity logout to 1 hour

Release 1.11 – August 15, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Warning Message on Offering Edit/Create
  • Designation Request - Role Validation

Release 1.10 – July 25, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Error Message When Submitting Second Institution Designation Request

Release 1.9 – July 4, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Added ability to pull student unmet need report

Release 1.8 – June 14, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Revised scholastic standing reporting functionality and content
  • Update program status label when program effective date is expired

Release 1.7 – May 23, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Added ability for BC Publics to pull FT & PT student reports and other institution reports
  • Improved deactivated program dropdown menus
  • Improved StudentAid BC Program Code fields

Release 1.6 – May 2, 2024
Bug Fix:

  • Minor update to correct an issue where an incorrect federal study code was being generated

Release 1.5 – April 12, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Ability to deactivate programs that are no longer offered or were created in error
  • Added ability for institution user to view manual reassessment history

Bug Fix:

  • Update to correct institution name bug on program screen

Release 1.4 – March 21, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Updated Language – Confirmation of Enrolment
  • COE Declined Triggers Reassessment

Release 1.3 – March 6, 2024
Enhancements:

  • Program Length Options updated to include two new options (referenced above)
  • Specific Classification of Instruction Program (CIP) inputs successfully map to Field of Study Codes
  • Undergrad Citation added to dropdown of Program Credentials
  • Duplicate Offering Names (various enhancements)