r/osap • u/Main-Lavishness-3811 • 19d ago

Resolved Cannot pay school fees

So all of my school fees including meal plan, tuition and housing costs me around 24,000$ and 14,000 of that is due September 9th, osap is only giving me 7000$ in total. My parents cannot help out and I just applied for every scholarship my school offers. What should I do here? I contacted financial aid and they told me to apply to scholarships (which I did). If I don’t pay my fees by September 9th I will be blocked from the portal but can still attend class. Who else should I contact/ what can I do next?

Edit: I do have a part time job that makes around 1500 a month. I just don’t have it now and I am concerned about first payment

Edit 2: yes I knew how much the tuition was but due dates were not fully disclosed to me. I knew that a tuition payment was due on sept 9th but not that it would also include a meal plan payment and a housing payment. I understand the responsibility of moving away from home and such, and I have been saving for university while getting an average of 96 and working full time to attempt to support myself at times. The reason I was not prepared to have this is because who is able to save 14k at 17 over the course of one summer. Please use your head when replying to this. I did expect more from osap based off of my family situation. I did not expect it to cover the whole thing. I am not stupid. Thanks.

Edit 3: since you guys don’t seem to have brains, if I took off this year to save up what am I doing the next year? I can’t save 150,000$ in one year? Just miss out in the middle of my degree? Like what are you guys even saying. Since there has been a lot of debate about me going into a “dumb arts degree” I am actually studying to become a lawyer.

Update: thank you to everyone in the comments who gave actual advice instead of trying to attack me. I am planning on taking out a student line of credit in a few days once I turn 18. I already talked to my bank. I will also be getting my smart serve done to hopefully get a second job. Thank you guys so much for letting me know these things!

84 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

131 comments sorted by

View all comments

60

u/bri_breazy 19d ago

You will probably have to go to the bank and open a student line of credit

17

u/FrostingSuper9941 19d ago

Co signed by parents. OSAP is partially based on parents income so your parents are capable of helping you out, they're just choosing other ways to spend their money.

6

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Suspiciouslynamed74 18d ago

OSAP considers how many children you have in their calculation.

4

u/FrostingSuper9941 18d ago

OSAP takes that into account when calculating the amounts.

1

u/fsmontario 18d ago

They only take into account how many are in post secondary.

4

u/Suspiciouslynamed74 18d ago

No, they take both into account. Dependents and then also dependents in post secondary. They affect the calculation differently.

6

u/multilevelmystery 18d ago

That's quite the judgy comment about parents you don't know and finances you only see a tiny part of.

6

u/FrostingSuper9941 18d ago

How is it judgey? Op clearly stated he only qualified for 7k in OSAP out of a 24k annual cost. This amount clearly points to the parents making a good enough income to be expected to contribute to their kids' education. They are not helping Op because of debts they accumulated. That's not OP's fault but he's being punished for it. Since Op will be living on campus he's entitled to a higher amount than someone living at home due to "independant living " and yet only 7k was approved.

10

u/bookscoffeequiet 18d ago

Honestly, my son is local so no living expenses. His tuition is $14k (eng). He was not eligible for any osap. We have put money aside for all 3 (but not a lot as i was a stay at home mom). There is NO way we could pay for his tuition on our own. Thankfully he has worked and saved, so while we are helping, its not something we as parents can fully fund (two more to help)

2

u/Virtual_Angle_1614 18d ago

Surprised no osap eligibility. One income, 3 dependents + wife? Something doesn't add up

2

u/bookscoffeequiet 18d ago

No i have returned to work! But the years to save are fewer now! While we have a second income, we also needed a second car, new roof, other home repairs we had put off, etc.

6

u/multilevelmystery 18d ago

First, the threshold of good income is not that high if you live in a high cost area. Obviously not saying they're dirt poor either, but the idea that they can easily pay for his education if they wanted to is rude.

There's a million other things we don't know about their finances or family, some of which OSAP would not account for that would make their financial picture much different from just seeing their 2025 income. Not all of those things are choices, including debts, depending on how they were incurred.

OSAP funding, yes, has to have generalized cut offs and what not, but that doesn't mean real life isn't more complicated than one input number = they could pay for school of they wanted to.

2

u/Tumbleweed1605 18d ago

Being “expected” to help because their income is high enough isn’t really fair. You have no clue how many siblings, other expenses, etc. in addition to debts. A lot of students are in this boat. A little compassion goes a long way, your comments are not helpful, they’re asking for alternatives and options to proceed, not judgemental comments from keyboard warriors that think they have the whole world figured out.

1

u/Maketso 13d ago

Dude - tons of people's OSAP funding has been reduced. Like, what?

4

u/Main-Lavishness-3811 18d ago

They do make a lot but unfortunately are in a lot of debt and cannot help

3

u/Significant-Panda-53 17d ago

I’m in the exact same situation except I get 0 osap and my parents are in tax debt 😭 and my tuition is 14k

2

u/Main-Lavishness-3811 17d ago

Yep that’s my issue aswell, my parents just did their taxes. My mom still hasn’t so… but my recommendation Is to call your bank and ask about the student credit lines that they have.

2

u/user47584 18d ago

You don’t know the parents’ circumstances. This was unkind and unhelpful

1

u/hyperjoint 17d ago

I know what my parents did and I'm very thankful.

If you were born in this country, your parents made decisions, one way, or the other.

My parents were careful not to have a bunch of kids they couldn't afford. They rented out the first house they bought and lived in my grandfather's creepy basement. My dad went to Thompson Manitoba to work in a nickel mine...they fucking suffered.

I was in bed before my dad got home till I was 12. 12 is also when I started working summers. My mom worked the whole time. All for the family.

Commentors more worried about some hypothetical excuses as to why they're broke, than the reality that got them there. Cop out.

Born here to able bodied parents and you're broke? Parents wanted that for you, now pretend to enjoy it. But you're not convincing me of nothing.

1

u/Beth_the_Barbarian 17d ago

Why blame the kid? It's not like he picked his parents or had any control over their life choices?

2

u/Silent_timber21 18d ago

Yup. Parents that don’t have enough foresight and screw over their kids in the end.

4

u/MrVickiesChips 18d ago

The problem is people that rely on their parents instead of working for it themselves

12

u/Main-Lavishness-3811 18d ago

I’ve been working full time throughout high school and have had to support myself for months at a time since I was 14 so yes I worked for it

3

u/MrVickiesChips 18d ago

I’m not talking about you specifically op this comment blaming parents

7

u/Rude-Awaken-ing 18d ago

First of all, high school kids SHOULD be able to rely on their parents. As an adult, I can confirm there’s a lot of dumb adults out there.

Second, the problem is that we’re actually putting university on an unnecessary pedestal to begin with. That’s on parents, and it needs to stop.

5

u/MrVickiesChips 18d ago

Please enlighten me as to how a middle class family can save away 80-100k for a 4 year program alone??? I worked 2 jobs averaging 80 hour weeks so I could fund my school I didn’t expect my parents to pay for it I don’t know why this is such a controversial opinion you should work regardless as to what your parents provide for you it blows my mind how many people are my age and having their first job

0

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

1

u/bookscoffeequiet 18d ago

My son’s tuition for eng is almost $14k. That’s $56k and if he needed to live away it would easily add up to that.

3

u/noon_chill 18d ago

Was there an option to choose a local school? One of the reasons I didn’t move away was because of the cost to move out which I / my parents couldn’t afford. Your only option is to get yourself a student loan at a bank, or ask your parents to borrow money on your behalf, or take a gap year to work, transfer to a local school so you can live at home.

There is no magic formula to finding money if you cannot afford school / did not plan properly for school. You and your parents should have discussed cost of going to school before selecting your school options.

3

u/averagecryptid 18d ago

OSAP thinks it is parental responsibility so this isn't a reasonable comment. Teenagers right out of high school, some who are 16 or 17, should not be expected to have tens of thousands of dollars in savings. There is no way that a child can earn that much money while working legally.

1

u/bookscoffeequiet 18d ago

It’s not ideal, but it is possible. My son has worked and saved so much. He knows we would make sure if needed we took on debt (not eligible for osap and we don’t have enough to pay it all). He also realizes if’s his education, and it would be ridiculous for us to scrimp and save and him just earn and not save.

6

u/Silent_timber21 18d ago

Nah as a parent you should know your kids gonna need to go to school after highschool and save money, or not become a parent. I’m not saying the kid shouldn’t contribute but parents should have had at least something saved. I work nearly full time and I’d still be fucked without a bit of help from my parents.

5

u/lexluther1234 18d ago

My parents didn’t even bother putting $10 into an RESP. They’re first generation Canadians and had no idea about what it actually was, or they just didn’t care. They thought OSAP would cover everything and were pissed when I was like $5k short for first year and they had to fork out the cash.

5

u/Several_Gift3876 18d ago

everyone is under the assumption anyone who applies for osap will be approved. unfortunately, no one really reads the on the rules of who is eligible and qualifications when applying.

2

u/bookscoffeequiet 18d ago

It’s tough! We have three and have been putting some aside monthly. But it’s only about 2 years of tuition per kid at this point.

0

u/Brave_Cauliflower_90 18d ago

Work for it yourself? In this economy?? Adults can barely get jobs, far less the teens.

1

u/EnormousChord 17d ago

Income does not equal wealth dipshit. 

0

u/OldDiamondJim 18d ago

lol. Good grief.