[Music]
Congratulations! You’re going to university or college.
And you’ve made the smart decision to apply for OSAP.
OSAP is financial aid – grants and loans for eligible students to help pay for college or university tuition and other expenses.
In the past year, more than 225,000 students had their tuition covered by OSAP grants.
Applying for OSAP is easy!
1. Set up your OSAP profile.
2. Fill out an application.
3. Provide all required documents. You’ll also want to track the status of your application.
You can start with the OSAP application, or you can save time by linking to your college and/or university application.
First, you’ll need to register and create a profile.
NOW, start your application.
If you’ve linked your college or university application, we will start your OSAP application for you by filling in the information we have already. Or you can start one yourself.
Take a moment to review the information you will need to complete the application.
You will be providing information about:
1. Your school and program
2. You
3. Your family, if applicable
Ready to begin?
Confirm your profile and answer a few more questions.
It’s important that the information you enter is accurate, especially the date you last attended high school.
Next we need to know about your school and program.
If you’ve linked your college or university application this will be done for you and you can skip this step!
If not, here’s how you find your school and program.
Make sure you select the right campus, the correct year of study and the correct start date.
Now you’ll be asked about your course load percentage – full time students should enter 100%.
The School & Program section is now complete!
You’ll see a check mark beside it at the top.
Next up: you.
Everyone needs to complete this step.
Let’s pause here, and take a good look at the Current Situation page.
If you’re a high school student, you will most likely select this choice.
As you complete the steps, links will appear at the top of the page so you can go back at any time.
Next up, your income and assets
Tell us about the income you earned in the last year, what government or other financial help you’ll get before school starts, and if you expect to earn any money while you’re in school.
You also need to tell us if you have any assets.
This completes the section on you!
If you graduated high school less than four years ago, it’s now time to get your parents involved!
Ask your parents for their Social Insurance Numbers, dates of birth and amounts from their last year’s income tax return.
Here’s a tip: you can pause at any time, save your application, and come back to it later.
Let’s get back to the application!
Once you have your parents’ info, enter it in.
Remember…
…the more accurate your application is, the fewer delays in processing.
This completes the section on your family!
If there is any information missing, this page will tell you.
Ok, once everything is complete, you will be taken to “Review and Submit”.
Now for the big reveal…
This page shows you how much money you could get in grants – money you keep – and loans – money you repay.
It’s just an estimate until your application is processed. If you’ve submitted more than one application you can compare estimates – it’s a great tool!
We’ve also provided information on the difference between grants and loans.
You’ve registered, you’ve completed your application and you’ve hit submit – what now?
The most important thing is for you to check your OSAP account regularly.
It will have the latest information about your application, including anything OSAP needs from you.
Generally, applications are processed in mid-May.
You may need to provide additional documents and forms – for example, you may need to sign a declaration form.
This is easier than ever, as you can upload documents and forms online.
If you are a first-time OSAP applicant, you’ll need to complete the Master Student Financial Assistance Agreement.
You’ll get an email in May about how to do that online.
The next steps are done by OSAP and your school.
We will check the information on your application and review your documents.
And most importantly – we’ll tell you how much money you’ll get.
It’s generally given out at the beginning of each term, after your school confirms that you’ve started classes.
If you are at college or university in Ontario, we pay your tuition and school fees directly to your school.
Any remaining funds are deposited into your bank account.
Thanks for taking the time to learn how to apply for OSAP.
[TITLE: For more information, check out ontario.ca/osap]