Originally Posted by britb

I think the issue with that is having the option of your parents. Say your parents are doctors but don't pay for school. If you got in trouble (lost your job, etc), they could help you. If your family does not make that kind of money and you lose your job, you don't have that safety net.

Problem is the govt seems to think everyone is quite happy to rely on whatever safety nets they have to pay for school that year (ex, OSAP gets pretty destroyed if you own a car, as if they expect you to sell it that year to pay for school when you probably need it for work, school, etc).

Doctor parents?? I wish... lmao I pay for absolutely everything because I work my ass off during school (have worked 2 jobs even), and during the summers. It would be quite nice to have a little extra cash through OSAP. Friends of mine with similar parental income even get bursaries because they don't work (or not work as much). However, it's nice to know we can all benefit from the $800 tuition grant.

eventually they are going to have to do something about grad students because they have made university more accessible, bas and even honours bas dont really mean that much anymore so more students are going to have to go to grad school or college after their undergrad to be able to compete for jobs

Beware the false advertising. SFAS declares you are eligible for "up TO" $800. You do not automatically and necessarily receive the entire $800.

retroactive would never happen but they should have made it seem all this time and even in current articles in the news that we are getting 1600 this year for both semesters.

awesome, so since I've been out of school for over 4 years I'm not eligible. Guess Mr. Noodles will continue to get my business :(

fwp

I get more then $1600 in grants already so I'm ineligible for the Ontario Tuition Grant.

We should be getting more than $800!

darn. what if you've been out of high school 5 years? :(

Originally Posted by Matt Wright

I find it unsettling that so many people are taking the attitude "this is bullshit because I don't get any money"... clearly there is a demographic of students who experience financial aid and will benefit from this grant. Just because it isn't you, doesn't mean it is completely useless. STFU, enjoy university, and stop bickering.

While I'm not one to complain about free money, I do find a lot of things wrong with this rebate so I'll do it anyway. I'll justify it by saying that it's not really "free money" if I never should have paid it in the first place, because my tuition expenses are absurd.

1. The $160 000 cutoff is way too high. If your family is making $160 000 gross/year, then even with four kids at university you should be financially secure, unless you insist on leasing a new car every year. I'm generalizing, I know, but the point is that the cap should be lowered, or at least adjusted to accommodate the number of students per family attending university.

2. To call it a 30% rebate is almost false advertising. If the provincial tuition average is $5500, then that means there are just as many people paying $3000 for tuition as there are paying $8000. Being part of the latter demographic (and that's before supplementary fees), I'm a little annoyed that the former half is getting just as much money as I am. Would it be so difficult to rebate each student an amount proportionate to the cost of tuition?

3. To top it off, the fact that your current grants are subtracted from the $1600 is extremely counterproductive. On one hand, I can see the government wanting to spread out the aid, but on the other, if that was the goal then the students from the $160 000 households wouldn't get anything. Isn't it reasonable to assume that the students already getting aid are the ones who need it more?

3.5. One of the aforementioned grants subtracted is the Textbook and Technology Grant, which everyone who qualifies for OSAP and goes to Mac gets. If you didn't qualify for OSAP, then why do you need the $1600 anyway?

I'm kind of neglecting the (occasionally vocal) minority of students who come from high-income families whose parents don't help them pay tuition costs, but that's a difficult situation to solve. If the province started accommodating for them, then what's to stop everyone from just lying to milk more money out of OSAP or whatever?

thanks for the post!!

So much for my gap year helping me get money for school....

Originally Posted by Matt Wright

I find it unsettling that so many people are taking the attitude "this is bullshit because I don't get any money"... clearly there is a demographic of students who experience financial aid and will benefit from this grant. Just because it isn't you, doesn't mean it is completely useless. STFU, enjoy university, and stop bickering.

I don't believe I called it useless. I've been out more than 4 years. We're a one income family making just enough that I get no OSAP or anything else so yes, I'm bitter about it. We're fortunate in that we can afford that I do not work while I go to school but it's no walk in the park on a sunny spring day either.

Originally Posted by N.Cheng

So this year we're only getting the $800 and not the full $1600?

No you are getting it in installments. You get $800 now in January and another $800 in September. They won't give you the full $1600 because they need to make sure you remained enrolled in University for the full 2 terms.

PS. Why do people have to complain about getting free money? It's a free $1600 that you did jack all to get, so shut it and move along. If you just want a free ride in University pick one of the following:
1) Drop out and go to work. you won't have to pay tuition.
2) Ask your parents for money
3) You should have worked harder in high school so that you get a scholarship.