“I’m the first one to go to university… Both my parents after high school went straight to work. So I’ll be the first one to experience it,” said the 17-year-old who recently graduated from high school. But the day after her prom and the day before her graduation, she received a letter saying she was ineligible for funding from the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Da Ponte, who lives with her parents and grandmother in an apartment in Toronto’s west end, says her family lives paycheck to paycheck and even though they work to save, they can’t make a meaningful contribution to her school. “My parents both barely make enough to get by… It’s certainly not enough for me to get through university.” In 2019, the Ford administration overhauled the OSAP system with changes that included making dependent students ineligible for OSAP grants if their family earns more than $140,000, increasing expected parental loan contributions, and changing the definition of an independent student. Three years later, with inflation pushing many students’ costs up and the return to in-person learning driving up housing and travel costs, many say these changes are affecting them more than ever.
Choices
Da Ponte says that while she will be able to cover tuition for her first year with aid, she has no idea how she will cover the remaining three years. “I don’t really know if I’ll be able to continue my education as consistently as I thought I could with OSAP,” said Da Ponte, who says she will try to apply for a line of credit. The OSAP changes affected Vivian Miyata, a third-year student at McGill from Ontario. Vivian Miyata is in her third year at McGill University in Montreal. She says the OSAP cuts have made it increasingly difficult for her to pay her tuition and living expenses, especially with rising housing and board costs. (CBC News) She was eligible for OSAP, but has watched as more of her grants turn into loans. Even then, that money doesn’t cover her tuition, let alone books and living expenses. In 2021, these expenses increased as he moved to Montreal when private lessons returned. “I feel like I’m just trying to keep up and I feel like I’m just chasing … working multiple jobs to keep up with the rising costs,” the 20-year-old said. “I feel like OSAP doesn’t really reflect the increased cost of living over the past year. Obviously, groceries have gotten so expensive, everything in terms of rent. It’s so hard to find housing.” Another change in OSAP is the length of time until a student is considered “independent,” which is now six years, up from four years previously. Until then, they are required to submit their parents’ income and this has an impact on both their eligibility for funding and the amount they receive. As part of the OSAP changes, students must wait six years after graduating from high school before they are considered “independent.” This means they have to wait longer to tap into more OSAP funding. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) “I think it’s another blow,” said Tushar Sood, who is transferring to medical school in August at the University of Toronto, where he will be responsible for tuition that is nearly four times higher. Sood completed a three-year undergraduate science degree at McMaster University in Hamilton. He relied on OSAP for most of those years, but because he had to declare his parents’ income, he was eligible for fewer loans and grants. Because of the change in the province, he won’t be considered “independent” until his final year of medical school, meaning he’ll be eligible for less funding for most of the program. “I would really urge the federal and provincial counterparts to reduce it to two or three years from high school and focus more on the cost of the degree rather than how long it’s been since high school,” Sood said.
Changes are needed, the students say
Student groups say the changes are affecting students now more than ever with rising costs of living, food and students returning to in-person learning. The University of Toronto, pictured here in August 2020 when it was curtailing classes on campus. Many students say that returning to in-person learning is now an additional cost for them, whether because of transportation or housing. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) “One of the biggest struggles I hear from students is dealing with things like transit, for example, and just having to pay for monthly transit passes because now school is back in person,” said Sarah Abdilahi, national executive spokesperson with Ontario Canadian Federation of Students, a group pushing for more affordable education. Abdillahi, who herself relies on OSAP, says some students rely heavily on food banks and are forced to make tough decisions. “Sometimes what ends up happening is you have to make a decision: do I have enough money to eat today or do I have enough money to go home today?” Sarah Abdillahi is the national executive representative with the Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario. (Submitted by Sarah Abdillahi) A group called the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) says it all affects mental health and academic performance. “Students are expected to maintain their grades by paying their tuition and living all these different components while recovering from a global pandemic. So all of this has definitely affected the mental health of students,” said Jessica Look with the USA.
Province cuts tuition, ministry says
In a written statement, the provincial Department of Colleges and Universities told CBC News it continues to work with the federal government to implement more programs and changes to help post-secondary students. “To help reduce challenges in the repayment process, Ontario reduced tuition at publicly supported colleges and universities by 10% in 2019-20, implemented a tuition freeze in 2020-21 and 2021-22, and will freeze again the tuition fees in the next academic year 2022-23,” the statement said. Students from Wilfrid Laurier University are seen here protesting the province’s cuts to OSAP shortly after they were announced in January 2019. (Peggy Lam/CBC) Opposition MPs like Laura Mae Lindo, the Ontario NDP’s critic for colleges and universities, say they hope OSAP will be part of the discussions once Queen’s Park returns. “There are a lot of questions about whether or not the budget will be tabled in August … if we’ll actually see some kind of investment in the sector,” Lindo told CBC News.
