Ontario School Counsellors Association November 7, 2016 Noah Morris - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ontario School Counsellors’ Association – November 7, 2016 Noah Morris Director, OSAP Transformation Branch 1

Overview 1 Postsecondary Studies in Ontario 2 What is OSAP? 3 OSAP Transformation 4 OSAP Today and OSAP Tomorrow 5 What we can learn from YOU 2

1 Postsecondary Studies in Ontario 3

College vs. University In general, college refers to 2-year community colleges and university refers to degree- • level programs. Ontario colleges provide over 3,000 programs across a range of credentials, including o certificates, diplomas, graduate certificates, advanced diplomas and degrees. Most universities offer a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, while o some have a specific focus (e.g., medicine, arts and design, etc.). 2015-16 Number of Students Enrolled Public institutions (those receiving most • 500,000 of their funding from government) 450,000 serve most of the students in the 400,000 university and college sectors. There 350,000 are many private providers, especially 300,000 in the career-focused and vocational 250,000 sectors. 407,821 200,000 150,000 231,721 100,000 50,000 - Universities Colleges 4

Ontario Colleges 5

Ontario Universities 6

Average Tuition in Ontario $25,000 $22,744 $19,462 $20,000 $14,872 $14,998 $15,000 $10,460 $9,197 $10,000 $6,031 $5,000 $5,431 $- 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Social Sciences Engineering Law Medicine *Source: Statistics Canada, Centre for Education Statistics **All figures are in Canadian dollars and $1 CDN = ~$0.76 USD 7

2 WHAT IS OSAP ? 8

What is OSAP? The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) provides needs- • based assistance through loans and grants to help qualified students and families with the cost of college and university.  Grants, bursaries and scholarships = non-repayable aid  Loans = repayable aid More than 380,000 students per year benefit from OSAP • grants/loans, representing almost 60% of full-time Ontario university students and almost 70% of full-time Ontario college students. 9

OSAP Participation Rates 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% Universities Colleges 30% 20% 10% 0% 10

OSAP by Institution Type In 2014-15, ~$4.0B in OSAP assistance was issued to Ontario students. Canada (federal): $1.7B in loans; $500M in grants. • Ontario (provincial): $360M in net loans; about $1.0B in grants. • $71M $26M $95M Ontario Publicly Funded $141M Universities Ontario Publicly Funded Colleges Ontario Private Career Colleges Other Private and Publicly Funded Institutions in Ontario $1.2B $1.9B Other Canadian Institutions International Institutions 11

Who is eligible for OSAP? To be eligible for OSAP, a student must be: •  A Canadian citizen, permanent resident or protected person  An Ontario resident  Attending an OSAP-approved program and school  Enrolled full-time in a certificate, degree or diploma program Ontario students can still receive OSAP if they enroll in a program • offered at a college or university outside of Ontario. OSAP is an entitlement program which means that no cap is set on • the number of students who can qualify for funding – the amount of OSAP funding a student can receive is determined based on the student’s financial need assessment. 12

Determination of OSAP Funding Allowable Expected Calculated minus equals Educational Financial Financial Costs Contribution Need Tuition and Compulsory Fees Student Fixed Contribution Federal Assistance Books and Supplies Student Assets (60% of assessed need Equipment Parental Income subject to maximum) Computer Costs Spousal Income Personal Living Expenses Spousal Assets Provincial Assistance Child Care (40% of assessed need Travel subject to maximum) EXAMPLE Costs Financial Contribution Financial Need $15,000 $3,000 $12,000 13

Steps to apply for OSAP 6 1 Print, sign and submit the MSFAA Go to ontario.ca/osap. to a designated Canada Post. The MSFAA, or the Master Student Financial 2 Click “Apply” to register Assistance Agreement, is the student’s lifetime as a new user. loan agreement. Students will create an OSAP profile 7 Track the status of the and be assigned an OSAP Access Number (OAN). application online. 3 Complete an application. 4 Gather all required supporting documentation. Upload, mail or deliver 5 documentation to financial aid office. 14

3 OSAP TRANSFORMATION 15

Context for action Over the years, the government has introduced changes to make OSAP simpler and fairer for • students which has resulted in more than double the number of students accessing OSAP over the past 12 years. However, there remains a concern that students from lower income families continue to • participate in PSE at much lower rates than those from higher income families. Ontario and Rest of Canada - 2013 Postsecondary Participation Rates by Parental Income 18 to 21 Year Olds 100% 80% Ontario 60% Rest of 40% Canada 20% 0% 16

Limitations of the Current System MATURE LEARNERS, and those with children, are not sufficiently supported with non-repayable grants and help with tuition costs. BACK-END SUPPORT, like debt relief through the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant (OSOG) and the Tuition and Education Tax Credits, is not well-understood by students. MANY LOW-INCOME STUDENTS ARE DISADVANTAGED because they go to low-cost programs (e.g., college), and incur a larger proportion of their costs as loans. NUMBER AND COMPLEXITY OF GRANTS under OSAP are not well-understood, and can be confusing to students. There are over 20 different OSAP grants. PARENTAL CONTRIBUTION requirements toward the costs of a student’s education are high for middle-income families in Ontario, much higher than Canada/other provinces. ‘NET’ TUITION, or the price of tuition/education after non-repayable government assistance, is largely unknown to students in Canada. 17

Student and Parent Attitudes about OSAP Ontario recently undertook a research project using focus groups and surveys to assist in understanding student and parent attitudes and understandings of OSAP. What we learned: Parents are concerned about where the money to pay for postsecondary studies will • come from, and how much debt their children will be left with. One-third of students surveyed have considered not attending or dropping out of • school because of financial worries. Parents and students would like to see information become easier to access, and the • eligibility factors be made easier. While most parents have some awareness of grants, many are not sure how the • grants work or even if their children have applied. They also do not consider the grants offered through OSAP to make up a large • part of the funding and expect that most will have to be paid back. 18

Objectives of Reform NO PROVINCIAL STUDENT DEBT for students from families with annual income of $50k or less. CLEARER AND MORE TRANSPARENT NET TUITION COSTS of postsecondary education, by applying up-front grants directly to reduce tuition/educational costs. WORK WITH COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES to implement by Sept 2018, an offer and billing system that takes into account government and institutional grants for students, reflecting net tuition. INCREASED GRANTS FOR MATURE STUDENTS, making tuition support available to all students. REDUCED NUMBER AND COMPLEXITY OF GRANTS delivered through OSAP (i.e., eliminate the 30% Off Ontario Tuition, Ontario Access Grants, Childcare Bursary and OSOG). IMPROVED ABILITY TO CONTAIN STUDENT DEBT by redirecting increased tax revenue to up-front grants. IMPROVED ACCESS TO SUBSIDIZED LOANS for middle-income families, by reducing parental contributions. 19

Timing of Transformation Two phases with full implementation 2018-19. Phase I (2017-18): Consolidate grants. • Increase Ontario weekly assistance limits. • Phase II (2018-19): Reduce parental and spousal contributions. • Net (or Free) tuition system in place. • 20

PHASE I: 2017-18 ACADEMIC YEAR 21

Phase I: Consolidate Grants Ontario is replacing many provincial grants with a single new • Ontario Student Grant starting in the 2017-18 school year. Financial support previously provided at various times (e.g., start of • studies, end of studies, or years later) will now be provided to students upfront to help with education costs as they are incurred. Ontario 30% Off Ontario Access Ontario Tuition Grant Grant Student Grant Ontario Child Ontario Student Care Bursary Opportunity Grant Ontario Distance Grant 22

Phase I: Increase OSAP Assistance Levels Ontario’s maximum OSAP assistance levels will be increased from $160/week to $180/week for single students and from $360/week to $450/week for married and sole support students. Canada provides $210/week for all student types. Maximum OSAP Assistance Levels 2016-17 2017-18 34-week 34-week Weekly Weekly program program Single $370 $12,580 $390 $13,260 students Married / sole support $570 $19,380 $660 $22,440 students *Amounts based on both federal and provincial aid. 23

PHASE II: 2018-19 ACADEMIC YEAR 24