Introduction: The Stuff You Probably Already Know

OSAP is a wonderful idea that hopes to allow everyone in Ontario to attend higher education. It’s an amazing system in that it allows for those less fortunate, including myself, to reach their academic goals and “pay later”.

With OSAP, you get 60% of the total allotment at the beginning of the academic session and another 40% in the middle. It doesn’t give you the option of receiving a lump sum of money to waste which is a solid idea. This is described in more detail on OSAP’s official website:

Generally you will receive a portion of your current entitlement at the beginning of your study period and the remainder halfway through your study period – link

The Problem

OSAP is great, but how it’s been streamlined to work with Colleges and Universities is not. Let’s say that the initial 60% of your “current entitlement” is not enough to cover the entire cost of your tuition for the academic year. What happens with the outstanding balance, you ask? In the case of Ryerson University, they charge you interest on it. It’s plain, simple, price gouging. As a recipient of OSAP there’s nothing that you can do to stop the charges from accumulating, other than to pay them, which means there’s nothing you can do.

A person on OSAP is a person that is in need of financial support. How can any institution, in good conscience, charge interest to a student that is already struggling just to go to school.

Every educational institution that offers a program whose students are considered eligible for OSAP funding, has it’s own personnel on premises to deal with the administration of OSAP and related questions. So I absolutely do believe that the educational institutions are aware that you are on OSAP.

I would really love to hear a good argument for why students receiving OSAP should be charged interest on money that the educational institution is going to be paid in due process. Even if your OSAP entitlement is not enough to cover the entire balance of your tuition is it right for you to be charged interest on the balance, right away? I don’t think it is.

Solution:

• In the case that the first installment of their OSAP entitlement is not enough to cover the cost of tuition. Mark those students who are on OSAP as interest free until the end of the current academic year. OR;

• In the case that their entire OSAP entitlement is not enough to cover the balance in total. Mark students who are on OSAP as interest free until the beginning of the next academic school year. At least they have the summer to pay the balance.

How difficult could this be?

I just recently got off the bus and watched as people placed their heads in a downwards direction as the rain fell. Instead of mimicking this almost instinctual action. I held my head up high. Looked into the rain and enjoyed it.

While I don’t think I’m the first person to coin this phrase it was a natural thought to me and I think it has greater implications when you think about other possible meanings.

Keep your head up in the rain.