OSAP - Estimating Your Funding, and more! - MacInsiders

DannyV

OSAP - Estimating Your Funding, and more!

By DANNY VACAR, MACINSIDERS

OSAP, the Ontario Student Assistance Program, "provides assistance in various forms to over 200,000 students per year." They give you money to pay for school which you will pay back once you have graduated.

The 2008-2009 applications are not available yet, however the OSAP site has gone through a dramatic change. It is more informative than in years before, and even allows you to get an idea of how much aid to expect.

To get a rough estimate of the amount you can expect to receive, go to the OSAP site (http://osap.gov.on.ca). In the left sidebar, under Planning, click '
OSAP Aid Estimator'.

Read the information on the page then click NEXT. This next page tells you that the information you will be providing is similar to the one you will need to provide when you fill in your actual application. It also reminds you that this is a rough estimate and that your assessment may be less when you fill out the actual application (so don’t start spending the money just yet).

On the next page find McMaster University in the list, type in your program name and click SEARCH. Unfortunately the search is not that great. It will give you all program matches for the keywords you entered (in my case, all matches for “computer” and “engineering”). Find your program in the list and also make sure that the year column shows the year you will be entering in September 2008.

After you have selected your program, you will be taken to the “Personal Circumstances” page. The choices here are a bit confusing so make sure you read them and understand what they mean. As the note at the top says “Most single high school students with no dependent children will check the last statement, "none of the above statements applies to you ". Choose the correct answers for your particular situation and click NEXT.

Next is the “Financial Circumstances” page where you will be entering how much you expect to earn over the summer and during the school year. You also enter the value of your vehicle (if you own one), of your RRSP (if you have one) and other investments and savings. If some of these do not apply to you just enter 0.

Once you click next you will be taken to your estimated summary. On this page you are shown an estimate of your costs then an estimate of the OSAP funding you will receive. The costs estimate includes tuition, compulsory fees (ugh), books and supplies and travel and living allowances. The estimated funding is broken up into provincial and federal student loans and provincial and federal in-year grants. You also get a link to find out about financial aid available from McMaster.

Near the bottom of the page you are shown your Estimated Outstanding Debt which is usually reduced to $7,000 per year by the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant. You are also shown an estimated Tax Credit.

The OSAP site, http://osap.gov.on.ca, has a wealth (HA!) of information on the program and it now includes some great functionality. Apart from seeing how much to expect in funding, you can also calculate how much you can expect to pay back when you graduate and what aid is available from the school of your choice.

J-Met · 05-02-2008 at 03:04 PM

When it asks for vehicle value/total value of assets...you dont put your parents assets right? I put zero for everything because I dont have a job, a car, any property, or any RESP savings lol

DannyV · 05-02-2008 at 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Met

When it asks for vehicle value/total value of assets...you dont put your parents assets right? I put zero for everything because I dont have a job, a car, any property, or any RESP savings lol

That's right. Your parents assets are not taken into account in the estimator. If you click on the hyperlinked (or underlined) words on the page you should get a definition of what the government considers income, other assets, etc.

What makes this a really rough estimate is the fact that on the actual application your parents' financial status will be taken into account. This continues for 4 years after you have finished highschool. After 4 years their finances no longer come into play (there's an explanation for that on the OSAP site as well).

J-Met · 05-02-2008 at 03:30 PM

Well, the estimator does ask for your parents yearly gross income...I`m assuming that the estimate should be fairly close to your actual appication.

**kokosas** · 05-02-2008 at 03:45 PM

This is great, I wish I had known all this in my first year!

DannyV · 05-02-2008 at 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Met

Well, the estimator does ask for your parents yearly gross income...I`m assuming that the estimate should be fairly close to your actual appication.

Really? Hmmm I guess it depends on the choices you make because I wasn't asked.

Well in that case the estimate should be close to the real thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kokosas

This is great, I wish I had known all this in my first year!

This is a really new feature. It wasn't there when I last applied (2006) but I agree it would have been good to have an idea. Ah well, at least we can now figure out how much we can expect to be paying per month when we have to pay it all back :(

david_08 · 05-05-2008 at 09:58 PM

I'm going into second year, and I;m wondering if I can still apply for OSAP?..i didnt apply in first year, but now i'm thinking I will need the money. Do you think I can still apply?

DannyV · 05-06-2008 at 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david_08

I'm going into second year, and I;m wondering if I can still apply for OSAP?..i didnt apply in first year, but now i'm thinking I will need the money. Do you think I can still apply?

You can apply for OSAP at any point during your university career. It doesn't matter if you haven't applied in first year. I skipped second year because I was able to save up enough from jobs and such, but in third year I applied again and had no problem getting funding.

chaudhary.ak · 06-10-2008 at 08:38 AM

hey when i applied to osap there ws no programm as engineering1 so does tat means tat v cn choose any first year enngineering nd will be automatically considered as engineering 1 nd does annyone knw wat is mailing address to send the signature pages frr osap.....thanks..

JBeans · 06-10-2008 at 09:01 AM

If I remember correctly, in my first year I just chose what department I was planning to go into for engineering on my osap.
You would fill in a mailing address if you're not living at home right now. Otherwise, just have the paperwork sent to your permanent address.

chaudhary.ak · 06-10-2008 at 11:29 AM

this year to make the process easier nd quiker v cn print the supporting documents(i.e. paper work) required by osap nd mail them but i couldnt find the mailing address nd fr applying to the program i checked all the programs none of them at osap says engineering 1 there is year 1 fr all the engineering offered at mcmaster like mechinical, electrical , chemical, civil ..............................................

JBeans · 06-10-2008 at 12:50 PM

You mail the supporting documents to the finacial aid office here at Mac. As for the program, you pick any of the engineering departments for year one on your osap application. They are all identical and you change it next year once you know what department you will be in. It caused some confusion for me before too.

Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships
McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West
Gilmour Hall, Room 120
Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8
(905) 525-9140 ext. 24319
Fax: (905) 521-9565

Alireza · 06-11-2008 at 09:23 AM

I sent my OSAP info back on May 25th, any idea on when they will show the status of my funding? when I click on status it says "It will be available in June", but what time in June :S?

Eva C · 06-11-2008 at 09:26 AM

that's really hard to say. sometimes they come out early, sometimes they come out later. They do have a process alot of applications. I would just check every so often when you are free to see if it is up, but just dont' expect so early. your estimate should give you a general idea of what you will be getting.

Alireza · 06-11-2008 at 09:55 AM

Thanks for the reply Eva, I just had 1 more question inregards to RESP on OSAP. Lets says I have like 10,000 in my RESP, but I put on the OSAP application only 1,000, meaning that I will take only take out 1,000 of the 10,000 out this year. However later on I decide that I need to take out more like 4,000 or 5,000 during the school year. Could OSAP find out about this? and if they do, will they penalize me on my OSAP for 2nd year? Thanks

Eva C · 06-11-2008 at 10:03 AM

after you your status on how much you get on OSAP. They give it to you in two installments one in sept and one in jan. When you go and line up to get it, they will ask you if your application has changed, etc. If it is a big difference, then it would affect how much you get for the following term.
I didn't think i would work summer, and I did. So after I told them in sept, they had to deduct some of my osap in jan.

In regards to osap finding out... I'm sure they might have a way to find out the information.. i would never want to lie. lol... but I am not too sure about RESP stuff because I don't have it. Maybe someone else can answer this for you!

soroush122 · 06-11-2008 at 09:08 PM

what is due date for OSAP application?? my situation isn't clear yet, whether I'll be living with my parents or no. therefore, I should wait. In terms of summer job , how would it affect my OSAP loan? when I use OSAP estimator( living by my own) it says I'm eligible for MAX( 11,500$), is it reliable? thanks

Eva C · 06-12-2008 at 10:10 AM

it indicates that:
TO USE SOLAR Online Payment Agreement

In order to use OSAP as a payment option on your SOLAR Online Payment Agreement, you must apply to OSAP first, at least one week prior to registering on SOLAR. Students who apply before July 15th are guaranteed to have their OSAP calculate as a Funding Option on the Payment Agreement.

Therefore, you should try and do it before july 15th if possible.

Summer job. i am not too sure. I think i earned only $1500 and osap decreased by only $500ish. I'm sorry, I do not use your situtation, so its hard to tell. I never used the OSAP estimator. hopefully someone else can help answer this.