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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
This article also published on MacInsiders.com
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