How am I going to afford these textbooks? Many of us have found ourselves asking this question as we pull out our credit cards every year at the campus bookstore.
Cailey Alexander, a second-year commerce student, said she has been working through university to pay for tuition.
“It’s really hard to balance both, especially since it’s either your social life, your school life, or your job,” she said.
Alexander said that her ability to pay for anything, be it tuition or otherwise, hinges on being employed.
“If you want to go out with your friends, you need a job, and then you need time to study and go to school.”
Not all students are able to find a job.
Tal Klachook, a fourth-year journalism student, said she works odd jobs on weekends when she can find them.
Thankfully, the government provides some options for students who can’t make ends meet on their own.
In Ontario, students can apply for loans and grants through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) if they find themselves in need of some extra cash for school. OSAP offers both grants, which students do not have to pay back, and loans. This money is provided through provincial and federal funding. There are similar student loan programs in each Canadian province.
Grants are like gifts: you don’t have to give them back. Loans, however, have to be paid back.
However, there are many factors that can impact whether you qualify for OSAP and how much money you will receive.
You can apply to receive OSAP as long as you are a resident of Ontario, a permanent resident, or a registered refugee in the province. Unfortunately, international students and those with poor credit ratings will not qualify for OSAP.
Factors such as your family’s income, your course load, and your academic standing, among many other things, determine whether or not you’re eligible for the program.
“My parents help me pay for my rent and my living situation but school and tuition is sort of on me,” Klachook said. “I do what I can to help out and OSAP comes in handy but it sucks being in debt later on in life.”
Unlike bank loans, OSAP loans do not have a “grace period.” As soon as your program finishes, federal funding through OSAP will begin to accumulate interest. Provincial funding is only payment- and interest-free for a six-month period.
Although interest repayment programs for students are not widely advertised by OSAP, Ontario students can apply for more flexible payment plans. OSAP applicants can apply to the government’s repayment assistance plan.
Depending on financial need, payments can be frozen for up to six months or loan payments can be stretched out over a period of 14 and a half years instead of the typical nine-and-a-half-year payment plan preferred by OSAP.
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) has openly criticized OSAP and student assistance programs country-wide for contributing to student debt. As much as 60 per cent of these loans come from federal money, and it is this fact that has the CFS petitioning for student debt to become an election issue on Oct. 19.
The debate over the merits of grants and loans led the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to scrap loans all together. Around 7,000 students in the province this year will qualify for financial assistance and receive grants. The CFS wants all provinces to adopt this new program, but the issue is not as straightforward as it’s being presented in the media.
According to the Canadian University Survey Consortium, their 2015 Graduating Student Survey study confirmed that the average student will owe $28,000 in loan repayments by the end of their program. Student debt levels have been on the rise in Canada since the 2008 recession. The Canadian census noted a 14 per cent dip in entry level pay for students graduating in 2012 compared to their peers graduating in 2005.
“I would argue it’s more,” Klachook said. “I have friends who pay for absolutely everything . . . and I can tell you right now their debt is way more than $27,000.”
This figure is set to rise each year, especially with a growing reliance on private loans from banks to cover the difference.
“As a new grad coming out of school, and making minimum wage and having to pay each month all your debt, how do you live like that?” Klachook said. “You can say I’m going to create a budget but it’s sometimes hard to stick to your budget because things come up.”
With a combination of lower-paying jobs and student debt, and the prevalence of unpaid or low-paid internships both before and after graduation, it is no wonder that more graduates rely on the bank of mom and dad.
With less money being invested in universities, institutions have to rely more heavily on tuition to cover their operating costs, and with higher tuitions, students are taking out more loans.
