Students in ‘much better shape’ with provincial help, says OUSA
BRANTFORD (CUP)—The Ontario Tuition Grant (OTG) has undergone its annual increase, and the province is looking to encourage more post-secondary students to apply.
For Ontario undergrads in university and college degree programs, the grant is now valued at $1,780, or $890 per term. This means the value of the grant has increased by 2.8 per cent since the 2013–14 study period.
The provincial government developed the grant, which represents a 30 per cent tuition rebate, in 2012. The grant was initially valued at $1,680 for university and college degree students, and rises each year at a rate capped at 3 per cent.
Tuition costs in Ontario are also limited to a 3 per cent increase until the year 2017, meaning the OTG program will distribute funds that increase at a proportional rate to average tuition fees in Ontario.
According to the Ontario government, “most students who receive the grant pay less in net tuition than they did a decade ago.”
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The tuition grant has always been available to students less than four years out of high school, or less than six years if they have a permanent disability. The Ontario government announced the grant will now also extend to cover students five years out of high school if they are in the final year of a five-year co-op program, as well as students attending private post-secondary institutions.
“A post-secondary education should be accessible based on a student’s ability to learn, not to pay,” said Reza Moridi, Ontario minister of training, colleges and universities.
“It is safe to say that the 230,000 college and university students that did receive the 30 per cent tuition grant last year are in much better financial shape than they would have been without it,” said Rick Camman, vice-president of administration and human resources at the Ontario Undergraduate Students Association (OUSA).
In an OUSA report released in July, the association challenged the Ontario government’s limited age eligibility associated with the grant. The report stated the grant should be made accessible to students, “regardless of when they graduated from high school.”
According to Camman, a post-secondary education is one of the most effective tools in combating poverty, and the Ontario government’s age restrictions render many students from low-income backgrounds ineligible for the grant.
Students in two-term programs have until March 1, 2015, or 60 days before the end of their study period, whichever is later, to apply for the grant.
