Finance Minister Charles Sousa just announced that students whose families make under $50,000 will receive free college and university tuition under changes to student aid made in this year’s Ontario budget that represent the most radical shift in decades in how the province delivers loans and grants to postsecondary students.
The complex system currently of loan and grant programs will be replaced with with one program, the new Ontario Student Grant.
The government did not make clear details of the program, including whether students from higher-income families could end up with more debt in years to come. Starting in 2017, students will be able to borrow up to $2500 more a year.
So... people who used OSAP in the past 5 years to pay their education just got fucked in the ass? Is that what's going on?
Hey, I'm in my eighth (and last) year of post-secondary, with over $80,000 in debt.
This is absolutely useless to me. Sure, it's great for the people in school now and in the future, but it does nothing to address those of us graduating with massive debt.
Does anyone know when they're going to implement the free $50,000 tuition? I know that you can start borrowing up to $2500 starting 2017 but what about the tuition?
This is absolutely useless to me. Sure, it's great for the people in school now and in the future, but it does nothing to address those of us graduating with massive debt.
Actually, I think it does. The money will come from increased taxes, that will included in alcohol and gas prices.
So not only will you have 80k to pay off, but you will also have to pay more for commodities.
The discussion on this entire topic is ridiculous:
Old Conservative folks (generally the generation of our parents and grandparents) are upset because this is an "undue burden on taxpayers" and "Ontario can't afford this! We're just putting this debt on our kids!". You also get a lot of those folks playing up the argument that, "My son/daughter/younger generational descendent paid for their tuition and they're not getting any benefit from this!" {Okay, those arguments are contradictory in themselves, but yet it's the popular opinion observed on both my personal social media and internet discussions}
At the same time, "the kids" in the Conservatives' argument are yelling both, "YES! this is a great spending idea!" but also, "This isn't enough! Everyone who ever went to school should also be getting this repayment! Why don't they spend more on ME! {presumably some hashtag to end their rant}".
Hey, if they paid for active OSAP loans, then it would be fair and I would have no problems with it.
But at 25 years of age I must be an conservative old fart for not understanding why I have to pay 40000 dollars with interest just because I went to school 5 years earlier than the lucky schmucks. I somehow was okay with my financial burden, eventho I am from a very poor single immigrant parent family.
Just yet another reason to hate young people.
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Last edited by GeorgeLucas : 02-26-2016 at 12:01 AM.
Sure, it's a bitter pill to swallow for personal situations like this; but again, the unfortunate situation is even larger: that we have several very loud and very contradictory arguments coming from all parties involved here in Ontario
1) We shouldn't be spending so much and putting the financial burden on the kids;
2) We should've spent more money where it affects me or my kids;
3) This is a great spending idea!
The Liberals have already said they will move away from tax credits, including cancelling the education and textbook tax credit, and putting the funds toward an improved Canada Student Loan program.
If I'm understanding that correctly, then people who don't qualify for the free tuition program (their parents make over $50k combined) won't get the nice tax float year after year that pays back most of the cost of school for them.
My parents make over $50k per year, but I work and pay for school with my own money. Luckily I graduate this year, but other students in my position may wind up getting the shaft. That tax float returned $4500 to me last year.
But I could be understanding the article wrong; it's been known to happen.
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