New OSAP initiative: no interest for six months

Yuni Kim
Assistant News Editor
They listened and delivered.
The McGuinty government recently made changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program that doesn’t require students to pay interest on their student debt for the first six months after graduating.
John Milloy, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, said the government is listening closely to what students need and want.
Up until recently, students were given six months after graduation to find employment and a place to live but weren’t required to make payments on their loan during that time; however, the interest payments still accumulated.
“The problem was that we didn’t require [students] to pay, but we presented them with an interest bill,” Milloy pointed out. “Students said that wasn’t fair, and we agreed and made changes.”
Milloy said the no-interest payment method was going to cost money and resources, but remained optimistic the new system will be of benefit for students.
Sandy Hudson, chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario (CFS-O), said the introduced changes do little for accessibility and affordability.
“The issue of accessible, affordable education is not being addressed,” she said. “We should be aiming to make funds available to all students on a merit-based system where they need it.”
Some students agree with the fact that other issues should be examined. Antonia Theodorou-Christodoulou, a first-year kinesiology student, says another change should be in order: determining what the student will receive in financial aid based on parental income.
“I couldn’t get OSAP,” said Theodorou-Christodoulou. “I would have loved to, but my parents make ‘too much’ money.’”
She says she knows of people who lie about their income and cheat their way through the system regardless of parental income, yet still receive ample funding from the government.
“People lie and say they’re disadvantaged, cry that they’re broke and get [money in the end],” she said.
“But it’s discriminating against the high- and middle-class students, telling them ‘you’re too rich for OSAP’ […] there are other expenses that my family [has].”
To students that are new to OSAP, however, the government loans have proven to be helpful. Lucas Phung, a second-year Seneca at York student who is training to become a laboratory technician, described his first experience with OSAP to be quite satisfactory.
“This is only my first year using it,” he said. “For one thing, it helped me cover some of my textbooks and tool supplies. Of course, it’s not going to cover everything, but [OSAP] has been very decent to me.”
Milloy hopes that the current and prospective changes to OSAP will provide better assistance to post-secondary students across the province.
“We are pleased to do it,” he said. “It’s all about the students […] we are listening to students, moving quickly as the resources are available. We want to make sure the system is as generous as possible.”