Get your share of the $1 billion available to offset Ontario tuition

(NC) University students in Ontario shouldn’t get discouraged by the cost of tuition – more than a billion dollars in grants, bursaries, scholarships and loans is available to offset the sticker price.

In fact, Ontario has one of the most generous financial support systems for university students in Canada, with most students paying nowhere close to the full cost of tuition.

“I think of the full cost of tuition as the ‘advertised fee level’ and the money students actually pay as ‘net’ tuition,” says Patrick Deane, Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), and President of McMaster University. “On average, students receiving help through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) pay roughly half of the advertised fees.”

Ontario universities provided $840 million in non-repayable bursaries and scholarships to students in 2013-14, including $171 million on financial aid for students whose needs were not fully met by OSAP. More than $1 billion a year is also provided by the Ontario government through OSAP aid on loans and grants for students in colleges and universities.

Did you know that more than one in four OSAP recipients pays less than a quarter of the sticker price, and one in 10 students collecting OSAP had their entire tuition fee covered by student financial aid?

Income tax credits reduce the actual cost of tuition even further.

“There is so much financial aid available to students in Ontario,” says Deane. “Students and their parents should arm themselves with this information and make sure they understand the difference between net tuition and advertised fees.”

Sourcs: http://www.newscanada.com/print-sept-get-your-share-of-the-1-billion-available-to-offset-ontario-tuition-85383