2026-27 Information for Spring Open Houses
Good morning - does anyone have any good insight on how we should answer students during our upcoming spring open houses? Ours start early March. We know that we have the Ministry Q&A that they posted when the Ontario announcement came but.. anything further?
It will basically be 'we don't know anything more at this point... keep an eye on the OSAP website... apply as soon as you can and ask for an estimate but know that the estimate isn't absolute and... start really looking at other resources to supplement any OSAP funding.
Does anyone else have other good ideas or insight?
Pam
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Hi Pam!
Sorry for taking so long to respond - but this is an excellent question and is worth some discussion.
I think the answer depends on both the audience and, to some extent, on your institution's position. When I'm speaking with current students, I can look at their current assessment to give them an idea of how their current provincial grant funding might change under the new calculation, but that doesn't work for a prospective student, or for a group of students.
For prospective students, our recruitment team is still directing students to use the OSAP aid estimator - it should give them a reasonable idea of total assistance available, though not the grant/loan split. We remind students that OSAP is funded by both the federal and provincial governments, and that the recent announcements apply to only the provincial portion of the assessment.
On the last MCURES/OASFAA executive call, the Ministry said that they expected the OSAP aid estimator to launch in early May, so we're also ready to tell students to run the numbers as soon as they can, in order to help them plan. We might also talk about the Repayment Assistance Plan and especially RAP PD, to show that OSAP debt doesn't have to ruin a student's life after graduation, and that help is available.
But at the end of the day, our message hasn't changed that much - we encourage students to carefully consider their postsecondary program, not just as a short term cost, but as a meaningful long term investment in their financial future and in their quality of life. Beyond the financial component, postsecondary education represents a huge commitment of time and effort, and can radically change the trajectory of a student's life. We still think that's a worthwhile investment, and we'll still support students in need with scholarships, bursaries, and other programs to make study more affordable.
As an aside, I believe we're also giving students a pass to skip classes on the 4th, to participate in the protest at Queen's Park, because that's another way we can show support.
Hope this helps.