U of O students prepare to sit year out due to OSAP cuts

As the university year gets underway, the consequences of the cut to Ontario's student grant and loan program are becoming clear particularly for students from low-income families.

A number of University of Ottawa students say they've had to alter their course loads because of the $600-million cut to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

Others, like political science student James Casey, have decided to sit out the year to make ends meet.

"It's very frustrating and very stressful," said Casey, who this month was supposed to beginhis third year.

Casey, whoqualifies as a low-income student, said heknew he was in trouble when his OSAP grantwas about $2,000 less than last year.

"I was on track to go back to school full time. But these cuts have been an enormous step back on the amount of time it's going to take to graduate."

'It really does put you in a vulnerable place'

5 years ago

Duration 1:52

University of Ottawa student Anne Hamels says the OSAP cuts have reduced the amount of financial help she gets by about 75 per cent. James Casey says he'll have to push back his third year of school entirely and go back to work full time.

PCs say program was unsustainable

The previous Liberal government's programeffectively offered free tuitionto students from families making less than $50,000 a year.

The new Progressive Conservative governmentdecided the program was unsustainable, however, slashing OSAP's budget by 40 per cent.

• Twitter outrage: Students react to OSAP cuts
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"To do nothing to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Ontario Student Assistance Program would have been irresponsible," said Ross Romano, the new minister of training, colleges and universities, in a statement to CBC.

Romano said Ontario's auditor generalhad pointed out the free tuition strategy could see thecost of the program double to $2 billion bythe 2020-21 school year.

The province has replaced it withanacross-the-board tuitioncut of 10 per cent.

Most of the grants will still go to students whose families make less than$50,000 year, but those students won't receive grants alone they'll get a mixture of grants and loans.

"That's why we're ensuring that OSAP is sustainable, so that generations of future students can access a high-quality education and contribute to Ontario's future success," Romano said in his statement.

Delays cause scramble

The change however, has caused confusion and delays in the early assessments for students' loans and grants.

• Ontario students can't get loans because the formula to calculate them isn't ready
• 40% of Ontario full-time post-secondary students granted free tuition, CBC analysis shows

First-year University of Ottawa student Abiha Sajidsaid she only learned last week her funding would be almost $1,000short of what she was told earlier in the year not enough to cover tuition.

Sajid, who hopes to become a human rights lawyer, was raised in a single-income familyand is the first in her family to attend university. Like Casey, she qualified as a low-income student.

I'm honestly really stressed out because I don't know if I can afford to attend school this year.- Abiha Sajid, U of O student

She's now scrambling to find a part-time job soshe canpay her tuition by the end of the month.

"I'm honestly really stressed out because I don't know if I can afford to attend school this year," she said.

"We were counting on at least the tuition being covered."

Students organize

Other students are making less drastic choices, like reducing their course load or considering switching to part time.

"When I found out that it was affecting me too, it was a big shock," said Jaime McInnis, who's studying to become aFrench-as-a-second-language teacher.

McInnisis worried she'll be forced to drop one or more courses soshe can work part time,which would delay her graduation by another year.

She said she'll have to assesswhether she can handle the current load before the deadline to drop courses arrives.

So will theatre student Anne Hamels, who is also seeking a second job.

The pair are organizing a march to Parliament Hillnext Tuesday over the OSAP cuts, with about 500 students signed up on social media.

The Carleton University Student Association will also continue to lobby for expanded funding to OSAP and is focused on increasing financial literacy for students trying to navigate their degrees with less money.

"I know lots of students personally affected by cuts," saidCUSA president Lily Akagbosu."We're seeing that more and more people are taking longer to finish their degrees."

Queen's Park petition

The Ontario Liberals have launched an onlinepetition for students and their families, calling for a return to the previous investment in OSAP.

Michael Coteau, MPP for Don Valley East and one of the party'sleadership candidates,said he's concerned enrolment may be affected by the reduced access to grants.

That won't be clearly understood until later in the fall, when the schools release their final numbers.

Early indications fromOntario Universities' Application Centre, however, suggest university applications are continuing their five-year upward trend.

Even so,Coteau said the province needs to track the impact of the cuts tolow-income students in particular, since one of the aims of expanding OSAP was to increase accessibility.

The program was also supposed to help relieve the burden of student debt on low-income and middle-incomefamilies, he added.

"The student loan reforms also took debt off the backs of students and [Premier Doug] Ford is simply putting it back on the backs of those students and their families," said Coteau.

"It doesn't allow the provinceto reach its economic potential."