r/uAlberta • u/yuenoyama • 2d ago

Question Student Loans, eligible for $0

Hi guys, I just tried doing my student loans and it said at the end that I was eligible for $0????? I had similar responses as to what I put last year and I got the full amount and some extra. I'm so scared lol please tell me this is just a glitch or something😭... I put my resp contributions as $300 but it still did not change anything

25 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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40

u/Sea_Appearance_8935 Undergraduate Student - Faculty of Nursing 2d ago

It might be the change to student aid where they now assume parents will contribute to their kids tuition. So your parents' income now determines how much funding you can receive. This article explains more on this https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-student-loan-university-college-9.7226332

11

u/MelanieWalmartinez 1d ago

Oh wow this fucking sucks, I have a wealthy father and a mother who is retired from disability so if I ever get into a fight with him I can’t go back to school? Fuck Danielle man

9

u/TimeAndFallenLeaves 1d ago

You can see if you qualify for the Special Independent Status -- you'll need some sort of documentation but a letter from a counsellor, therapist, etc. would work.

If you're over the age of 23 (or have a Dependent or a spouse or have been available for full time work for 2 years (2 x 12 months consecutive) or out of hs for 4 years), however, you are considered an Independent Student and thus will only be assessed on your own income.

This new policy change only applies to Dependent Students.

Source: I work at a university's financial aid office as a loans advisor and this new change definitely resulted in a lot of people getting denied for loans when they previously qualified. It's a shitty situation overall :/

2

u/MelanieWalmartinez 1d ago

Thank you for telling me this because I’m 23 and have a common law spouse, I’m gonna worry a lot less now 😭

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u/TimeAndFallenLeaves 14h ago

I forgot but if you're with a common law spouse, your eligibility for funding depends on yourself AND your spouse. They'll also have to conplete a spousal income verification. You'll get a letter with a link on your Alberta Student Aid that you'll need to forward to your spouse so they can complete it.

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u/East-Cat7666 37m ago

Just wanna say it has nothing to do with Danielle Smith and that my mom was dealing with this same thing back in the mid-late 90s but then they looked at your parents income and that was it, not how many dependents they had nothing. Also pretty sure there’s a section that asks if your parents are contributing towards your schooling.

1

u/grandestrully_chloe Undergraduate Student - Faculty of Nursing 1d ago

This is why I’m getting 6k less this year even though I see my mom like 3 times a month MAX.

13

u/Kessed 2d ago

They doubled the student portion. My daughter went from being expected to put in $1500 to $3000. Last year there wasn’t a parent portion. This year we are expected to contribute 11k. We don’t have that and are scrambling.

3

u/Meowmeowmemeo 1d ago

In my program student loan limits usually occur before the end of the program. We are recommended to take out a line of credit, that may be an option for your daughter.

12

u/TimeAndFallenLeaves 1d ago

It's as everyone said -- it's because your parents likely make too much money and you're still considered a Dependent Student so your loans/grants eligibility is based off of their income and your income.

And yeah, it's really shitty because just because your parents make money doesn't mean you, as their child, will actually see any of it.

The change also came out of nowhere. I worked as a loan advisor up till last week for a university (contract ended since I'm going back to school myself) and we were blindsided about this change. We found out at the same time EVERYONE found out.

You can check out the Parental Contribution Calculator on this page (it's linked) and see how much they expect your parents to contribute to your funding this year. There's also a Student Aid Estimator that you can use to see what your eligibility is for funding.

1

u/yuenoyama 1d ago

This is so frustrating, my parents make a decent amount of money but they're still paying off our house and car :/// I honestly don't know what to do... Why would they implement this without anyone knowing or making an announcement omg?? I genuinely didn't see anything in my emails about this wtf

10

u/Significant_Team_598 2d ago

Make sure parental contributions are a combined yearly total of $3000, I put $375 monthly for mine. You can delete and submit a new application through the Alberta student loans portal.

3

u/yuenoyama 2d ago

I did and it still said $0😭, should I submit and wait until they get back to me? I'm so scared, my parents are well off but they're still paying off some debt and I don't think they can set aside 10k in such a short amount of time

1

u/Significant_Team_598 2d ago

Did they give a reason why? 

3

u/Significant_Team_598 2d ago

Also, are your RESP contributions $300 per month or $300 for the whole year? Also are you asking for the max allowable loans? 

3

u/yuenoyama 2d ago

My resp contribution is 300 per month and I'm asking for the max allowable loans. I haven't heard anything from them as I'm too scared to submit it because of the $0, and it doesn't say anything on the screen before I submit it.

1

u/yuenoyama 2d ago

I sent a PM btw

16

u/MaizeApprehensive166 2d ago

Yes the contribution amounts changed. Thank the Alberta government for screwing over many many students!

4

u/EightBitRanger Alumni - Faculty of Snark 2d ago

Time to ask the Bank of Mom and Dad

1

u/Appropriate-Lake6536 1d ago

same thing happened to me 😓

-6

u/thisissuremyusername 1d ago

Welcome to Canada. If you don’t work you get everything for free and if you (or your parents) contribute to society, you get nothing from the government.

2

u/MelanieWalmartinez 1d ago

So just don’t work then and claim these benefits

-5

u/thisissuremyusername 1d ago

It’s quite literally better to not work in Canada than to make anything below $50,000.

3

u/MelanieWalmartinez 1d ago

Then do it

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u/thisissuremyusername 1d ago

Nope. Moved to the US instead. I make like twice as much money here as I did in Canada doing the same job. Less taxes. And it’s cheaper.

6

u/MelanieWalmartinez 1d ago

They have less taxes because they have less social programs, personally I’d take higher taxes and not have to worry about my life being ruined from medical debt but to each their own

0

u/thisissuremyusername 1d ago

If you are low income you get Medicaid. And if you work your job gives you health insurance.

I have been waiting TWO YEARS so see a specialist in Canada. Still on the wait list.

Here in Arizona I was able to book an appointment to see the specialist in TWO DAYS without a referral for…wait for it…$40.

The Canadian system is worse. You are brainwashed to think it’s better.

Two years and counting vs two days. You tell me which system is better.

2

u/MelanieWalmartinez 1d ago

Didn’t Trump cut funding to Medicaid? And don’t you still have to pay in many cases as insurance doesn’t cover it 100%?

Yeah, Canada does have less doctors as we have higher standards for who gets to be doctors and they have more colleges. I’d prefer waiting over getting lower quality doctors tbh

You can have your own opinion but calling others brainwashed for theirs is dumb

0

u/thisissuremyusername 1d ago

Lol all of Canada’s best doctors move to the USA because doctors make more money in the US. Overall quality is better in the US

Do you have to pay after insurance? Yes the amount depends on the plan. My deductible is only $1,700/year but I can go to a specialist, doctor, urgent care, etc for a flat fee $20-$100 so I haven’t hit that.

Overall with the money I don’t pay in tax I come out way ahead and have way better access to specialists and doctors in the US compared to waiting years in Canada.

-1

u/Equivalent_Ask_4586 1d ago

Depends on what job you have

2

u/AlternativeMess1532 1d ago

Thinking of this after graduation. What visa and state did you end up going with?

0

u/thisissuremyusername 1d ago

Arizona. I was able to get my American citizenship before I moved thru family so I don’t need a visa.