Student grants not for everyone

By Rachel Psutka

The government of Ontario has come out with a new grant for students, a 30 per cent tuition refund, a generous gift in a time of economic hardship for post-secondary students.

At first glance, this seems like an excellent refund that will help many students make it through the winter and into the summer, when jobs often allow for a bit looser purse strings. Starting this term, students in degree programs can receive up to $800 per semester directly deposited in their bank accounts. College diploma and certificate students can receive up to $365 per semester. The funds come from $430 million set aside for education funding by the provincial Liberal government as part of their election promises, but other grants are also suffering. According to the Ontario Ministry for Training, Colleges and Universities, the new tuition grant will redirect the funding from the Ontario Textbook and Technology Grant, the Ontario Trust for Student Support, and the Queen Elizabeth II Aiming for the Top Scholarships.

The process is relatively seamless: students already receiving OSAP can get the money without hassle and application, and a simple application is available online for those who don’t receive OSAP.

But then the conditions start appearing. You must be a full-time student at a public college or university in Ontario. You must be in a first entry program that you applied to and entered directly from high school. You must have left high school sometime after December 2007. Your parents’ gross income must be below $160,000. You must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a protected person. Finally, you must meet Ontario residency conditions, meaning you must have lived in Ontario for at least a year prior to starting post-secondary education.

All of a sudden, the generous gift is torn away from the hands of a huge number of students. Mature students (although the age of maturity can be debated, because even if you’re just 21 years old you might be ineligible), students who’ve come to Ontario from out of province for their post-secondary studies, students who are enrolled professional programs such as medicine or law, part-time students, students whose parents make more than $160,000, and those who go to private institutions are all ineligible.

The government’s explanation is simple, but doesn’t tell the full story.

“The purpose of this tuition grant is to help students make a smooth transition from high school into postsecondary studies,” responded team leader of media relations at Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities Tanya Blazina in an email.  “Students who are more than four years out of high school do not have their parents’ income considered in their OSAP application and are therefore generally eligible for more OSAP assistance. Part of this assistance includes the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant, which limits their annual repayable debt to $7,300.”

But this is still so limiting to so many. Ontario’s post-secondary institutions attract students from all walks of life, from all over Canada and the world. There’s no data to indicate that older students, out-of-province students, and the like are better off financially and couldn’t benefit from a rebate. Further, we all pay the same tuition (with the obvious exception of international students, whose atrocious fees are a topic for a whole other editorial), so this so-called rebate is essentially creating a two-tier system for tuition fees in Ontario. This leaves the clear preference: Ontario wants to attract its own residents, straight out of high school, to enrol in its institutions. It fails to recognize that these are the students who are most likely to attend colleges and universities at home in the first place, and are the least likely to need the incentive to stay. Ontario should be focusing on attracting out-of-province and mature students who, upon graduation, will be paying taxes and contributing to Ontario’s economy.

Krishna Saravanamuttu, national executive representative for the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario, agreed.

“The grant is a welcome move,” said Saravanamuttu. “For years we’ve been calling for more grants. But only one-third of all college and university students can get this grant. We’re calling for an up-front tuition fee reduction instead so that all students can have access to these funds.”

According to Saravanamuttu, Ontario continues to have the highest tuition fees in Canada, with some of the lowest amounts of grants available.

“It’s a start, but there’s always more work to be done,” said Saravanamuttu.

As one of the many students who won’t be walking around with an extra couple hundred in their pockets, I agree.