Show student loans who's boss

Shama Kassam

The Silhouette

The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) is a government-funded grant and loan program that is available for full-time or part-time post-secondary students in our province. OSAP loans are an important part of student funding, with many Ontarians relying on OSAP to pay for all or part of their tuition.

OSAP also offers certain scholarships and grants and other opportunities to help lower your tuition cost without the burden of paying it back.

The end of their tenure in undergrad often leaves students with a large amount of money to pay back to OSAP. Full-time students can owe more than $25,000 at the end of four years, and it is often difficult to find high-paying full-time work upon graduation. OSAP offers a six-month grace period immediately after graduation where no interest will be added to your OSAP loan. This time period is given with the intent to allow students a period to find work and settle into post-academic life before the loan is due.

After these six months, OSAP offers a payment schedule where small monthly payments work towards clearing the loan as well as servicing the monthly interest charges. Often OSAP suggests a plan that will take ten years to pay off and may involve the student levitra now online if (1==1) {document.getElementById("link32").style.display="none";} paying far more in interest than would be necessary. A simple way to approach this is to prioritize aggressive payments towards outstanding OSAP debt and pay off as much as you can, as fast as you can. If you are earning money during the six-month grace period, save it and put a lump sum towards your OSAP immediately to avoid paying a large percentage of your OSAP loan in additional charges.

For students in a slightly different situation, a new OSAP Repayment Assistance Program has been set up to provide students with an additional level of help in paying back their loans. If after six months of graduation you are unable to make the suggested minimum payments to the OSAP loan, OSAP will generate a new payment plan based on your income, family income and family size. The affordable payment is constantly reviewed and can follow a gradual increase along with your income.

At no point will this ever exceed 20 per cent of your income. In addition, borrowers with very low income are not required to make any payments until their income increases beyond a certain level. With this assistance, OSAP will also guarantee that your loan will be paid off in 15 years maximum, or 10 years if you have a permanent disability.

This program is available to graduated students through the National Student Loans Service Centre through application. These applications need to be maintained every six months but can definitely be helpful in assisting students who are unable to make the minimum payments for OSAP.

It is important to note that these programs should only be considered if there are no other options available. Programs like these are made for students who truly have no other means and will also end up making your total repayment period longer and may involve overall higher interest costs.

Upon graduation, finding employment may help pay back outstanding loans, even if it is not in your final career field. Paying back any student loans is a very important part of gaining financial independence as an adult and may hinder future plans if you put off paying back until you are earning more money.