Lawstudents.ca

Ok so I'm wondering ... is anybody out there an expert on student loans. I applied for one and I'm getting mixed information. I've heard that between the student loan + bursaries that I will get enough money (albeit a very tight budget) to get by (rent, food, tuition, etc). Others, however, have told me that I will basically get enough for tuition and maybe a bit more ....?? Seeing as my student loan application is still in the works, does anyone out there have any answers or insight?

Maybe suggestions on how to pay for school?

Federal/provincial student loans will typically be enough to cover tuition and books. You may have a little extra left over, but certaintly not enough for living expenses. If you need loans to cover living expenses, then you should look into getting a professional student line of credit from a bank to supplement the govt loan. Mine was aproved for 90K over 3 years (I wont need this much) at prime plus 1%. Its good practice to use your govt loan first, since you dont need to pay anything on it while your in school. As for the bank LOC you will need to make interest only payments while in school. Typically banks offer a lower interest rate than govt loans, but are less forgiving if you are not able to make payments or need a deferal.

Hopefully this helps and if you have any other questions dont hesitate to ask or shoot me a PM!

I'd be surprised if this were true for a significant number of students. UWO Law tuition is over $15K; the OSAP aid maximum for single students without dependants is $360/week ($11,520 for eight months).

FWIW, I'm going into 3L, and have received $15K over two years from OSAP. And my financial situation is probably average (no vehicle, low-wage summer income, working part-time during the school year).

Barata88 is absolutely right that you should be looking into a student line of credit. I'd use stronger language and say that you should sign up for a student line of credit this summer. Now is the best time to get it done - you have time to shop around and get the best deal before the stress of 1L kicks in.

I'm going into 1L and got over 13K from OSAP. So I don't think that maximum is correct. Agree with everything Barata said.

Fair enough. I found the maximums here; they're consistent with my experience, but maybe I'm misinterpreting something, or a different formula is used for law schools.

I'm pretty sure that the maximum for single students without dependants has been raised. I own a vehicle (and have a decent job) and was just offered $9,000. Obviously students without a vehicle will qualify for much more.

Although OSAP may not cover all of tuition/books, it certainly covers a fair share.

Many people get some grant money on top of the maximum - I was quoted at 14k, and when I looked at the breakdown, all above the maximum is from a grant. So yay for extra money I don't have to pay back!

Ok - thank you for the responses. So grants, how do I apply for those? Is it automatic?

The grants are automatic (atleast it was here in Alberta). I automatically got a 2000 grant for my govt loan when I applied.

barata, where did u get 90k from? also, if i apply for a govt loan (if i still can)...can i just use the grant money and not touch the loan?

eferrari, I got the 90k from BMO.
You should be able to still apply for the govt loan, I think you can all the way up until the end of August. As for the loan, someone correct me if I am wrong, but they give you a check with the grant already built into the amount. So realistically you could only spend the grant and keep the rest in a savings account and not touch it until its time to pay it back.

LOL @ someone being able to afford to pay for school completely and still being able to get a government student loan.

That's not very hard to do actually, and considering it is protected against inflation, I'm sure there are better ways to utilize it other than putting it in your savings account.