Ontario’s new student education costs and you

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Jamie Mere, Graphics Editor

In Jan. 2019, the Ford government announced changes that would be made to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) and unveiled โ€œthe Student Choice Initiativeโ€ โ€” a policy designed to provide students with the ability to opt out of fees that were once deemed essential ,such as student unions and clubs.

The adjustments that have been made to post-secondary education costs include a ten per cent cut to university and college tuition, along with added interest to the six-month grace period that exists for students who need the time to pay back their OSAP loans.

The degree to which these new policies have been affecting students across Ontario and impacting the services provincial universities provide has varied and continues to remain uncertain.

At Wilfrid Laurier University, the Studentsโ€™ Union has been adapting to these changes through implemented strategies designed to be cost-effective and beneficial for the student body.

Shawn Cruz, vice president of student affairs, recognizes the significant impact the cuts to OSAP funding will have on a large portion of students who were expecting to receive more money in grants for the upcoming school year.

โ€œThe changes to the program actually seem to outweigh the financial value of the ten per cent tuition cut. Itโ€™s certainly been concerning for students who initially thought they were going to be saving money, but now have difficulty affording their university education,โ€ Cruz said.

Students have been airing their frustrations about their OSAP grant and loan estimations on social media, with some claiming to expect up to $8,000 less than they originally planned to receive.

โ€œThereโ€™s also been a shift in the grant to loan ratio of OSAP, so students who may have been receiving, for example, 70 per cent grants to 30 per cent loans, may see that shifted [to] where theyโ€™re receiving much more loans than grants, which is obviously a concern when coupled with the interest on the grace period. Paying back that loan is very difficult,โ€ Cruz said.

Tighter restrictions have also been added to the eligibility of students who use OSAP, and the requirements that classify an independent student and the amount of funding they are given based on those specifications.

The changes to the program actually seem to outweigh the financial value of the ten per cent tuition cut. Itโ€™s certainly been concerning for students who initially thought they were going to be saving money, but now have difficulty affording their university education.

— Shawn Cruz, vice president of student affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University

โ€œTo be an independent student, previously [the requirement] had been four years out of high school; so, once youโ€™re four years out of high school, then your parents income would no longer be a factor into your OSAP application. Now that has been changed to six years, so students have to wait even longer to be considered independent from their parents, and there are people now who are three years out of high school, but are independent, and that obviously makes things much more difficult to get an actual OSAP loan,โ€ Cruz said.

โ€œAdditionally, thereโ€™s been a change where students who are from a low-income household, which is defined as a combined household income of 50,000 dollars, will no longer receive free tuition. So, previously, those students were eligible for purely grants instead of grants and loans and that has now changed where everyone will have loans to some degree in their OSAP.โ€

The Studentsโ€™ Union has been addressing student concerns about OSAP funding by sharing an official statement on their social media channels, as well as a survey that students could fill out to voice the ways that these changes have impacted their financial circumstances and their plans for the upcoming school year.

โ€œThe overriding sense that Iโ€™ve been seeing is that students are having a much more difficult time affording education, particularly for this upcoming year. I think thereโ€™s this perception that some students may have been relying solely on OSAP, and that they donโ€™t have work opportunities or things like that, but from what Iโ€™ve been seeing thatโ€™s clearly not the case,โ€ Cruz said.

โ€œThese are students who are working hard to save up for university and are just using OSAP to cover that gap. And now that the shift in the amount that theyโ€™re getting has changed and the amount of loans versus grants that theyโ€™re getting has changed, people are seriously reconsidering whether or not they can continue their education, which is unfortunate.โ€

Zemar Hakim, president & CEO of the Studentsโ€™ Union, entered the year with knowledge that the Student Choice Initiative was going to directly affect the organizationโ€™s operating strategy โ€” at least to some degree.

โ€œThe Student Choice Initiative is a directive that requires all universities and colleges to classify their fees as essential and nonessential based on the guidelines from the government. And the fees that they have deemed essential, which are athletics and recreation, career services, student buildings, health and counselling, academic support, student ID cards, student achievement and records, financial aid offices, campus safety programs,โ€ Hakim said.

โ€œAnd the impact on us, has been to classify our fees that the government would have deemed non-essential into three categories, so we have our social programming fee, concerts and events, we have our student advocacy fee which is for Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), and our campus clubs fee.โ€

Minister Merrilee Fullerton originally stated that the Student Choice Initiative could save students up to $1,000 โ€” an estimate that drastically varies from school to school. Student groups around the province are protesting the initiative, with two student unions,the Canadian Federation of Students and the York Federation of Students,taking the government to court over the decision.

Despite the setbacks that the Student Choice Initiative presents for many colleges and universities, the Studentsโ€™ Union is cautiously positive.

โ€œWeโ€™re optimistic, relatively, about our numbers with the fees. Most of our services, thankfully, have been deemed essential by the government,โ€ Hakim said.

The groups that will likely experience the largest impact from the opt-out fees are student advocacy and campus publications.

โ€œAdvocacy by its nature tends to be more long term and tangible; itโ€™s also been deemed non-essential by the government, so thatโ€™s definitely taken a hit. And also student publications: they provide a useful voice on campus because they are necessary to tell a campus story and to provide oversight for things like the Studentsโ€™ Union or the administration, so the fact that this is taking place is unfortunate for student publications across the province,โ€ Cruz said.

Weโ€™re optimistic, relatively, about our numbers with the fees. Most of our services, thankfully, have been deemed essential by the government.

— Zemar Hakim, president and CEO of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union

With these expectations in mind, the Studentsโ€™ Union has one specific challenge ahead of them.

โ€œOn behalf of the organization, definitely promoting and communicating to the undergraduate body what we do, which weโ€™re working on right now with our hashtag โ€˜SU does thatโ€™ campaign. I definitely think [the key is] going to be the promotion and identification: itโ€™s [about] letting students know that this is a service youโ€™ve been using for such a long time โ€” something like Wilfโ€™s, for example, this is attached [to] and owned by the Studentsโ€™ Union,โ€ Hakim said.

In adapting with the changes that have been made, efforts have been put into place for the organization to be as transparent as possible when keeping students informed.

โ€œAnd the promotion of our services also extends, to some extent, to advocacy, where weโ€™ve tried to be more transparent this year about our [advocacy] efforts through our newsletter and being more active on social media. We want students to be aware that we do hear them and that we do hear their concerns and weโ€™re trying our best to bring those concerns to the government,โ€ Cruz said.

And when approaching the year ahead, president Hakim is taking these obstacles in stride.

โ€œIโ€™m taking it as a learning opportunity. I think itโ€™s cool that the first job I have right out of university is — this is very real world experience — where the SU in general is affected by the government, the fact that Iโ€™m exposed to this so early, as are all the student executives, is a good learning opportunity for us,โ€ Hakim said.

The Studentsโ€™ Union encourages Laurier students to use their voices to push for the changes they wish to see, to both university administration, as well as government representatives.

โ€œI think if you have any feedback on the changes to OSAP and the Student Choice Initiative in general, definitely come forward to us โ€” but also talk to your local MP,โ€ Hakim said.


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