Excellent. Now the other thread can be deleted and we're all more organized thanks to my initiative. You're welcome.

I recently visited my school's student service center office (York University) where I requested that they release $3,700 and keep the other $1,200 for textbooks and such. After learning that I don't need the rest for personal matters, how do I go about paying the rest of the loan to my school?

Sorry that was supposed to be funds. How would I go about paying the rest of the released funds to my school?

OSAP only releases your money to you after your university has been paid in full.

Hey! I'm in grade 12 right now, and I just tried to register on the OSAP site. I put all my info in, but they're saying that my SIN is already registered on their site. Since I never got an OAN, I tried logging on with the "Forgot your OAN?" tab, but then it tells me that my SIN has not been registered yet. What do I do? Is it too early to register or something?

I just found out that I got accepted by a med school in Australia. I just finished grade 12 in June. I have not applied to OSAP before.

I heard that if I study outside of Canada then my parents' income are not considered when applying for OSAP. OSAP will only need my financial information. Is that true?

Thanks

Yes

Just so you guys don't think I'm this heartless idiot who never has to deal with any of this crap, I'll tell you that's not the case. For the past MONTH I've been on the phone with OSAP and the National Student Loan Centre trying to sort out my funding.

Back in JULY 2011 I was accepted to my Master's program and that's when I applied for OSAP funding. It was all good - sent in the forms, they updated their website, and as far as I knew it was fine.

Then they sent me an overpayment letter. Oh well, I paid the money back.

Fast forward 5 months and my university calls me. They've never received payment because my OSAP funding is suspended, so I can't start my Masters in January 2012.

I called OSAP to ask what their problem was. They said I never paid back the overpayment from July. Then I spent 2 weeks arguing with my university, OSAP, and the NSLSC to track down this friggin payment I made, which I know I made because they withdrew it from my account.

They finally found the information, but now they're saying I have to appeal my funding to tell them why I couldn't submit my paperwork on time. Hahahah!

I've paid my university out of pocket ahead of time so that I can start my program on time. Now it's a matter of ensuring my OSAP appeal goes through. It's been a headache as I've spent hours and hours this month arguing with bureaucrats over the phone who somehow want to blame me because they didn't update their paperwork properly.

Good story eh?

To answer your second question first: it's because the government is attempting to socially engineer Ontarians into behaving a certain way. They want to see families coming together and loaning each other money, instead of turning to the government.

First question: it is possible that OSAP exempts your parents' income from their calculations. I've always heard that you have to submit a declaration in writing that says "We are not supporting DPaul" in any financial way during his studies" and that may help you. Your parents telling them that in person may also be acceptable - I'm not sure.

If you cannot obtain any OSAP funding, go to a bank for a student loan and ask them if they'll loan you money without your parents cosigning. It will be more expensive to borrow from them, but at least you'll have the funding to get through your degree.

Good luck.

I'm currently in Gr.12 and planning to apply to OSAP but on their website it has "2011-2012 OSAP Application for Full-Time Students". Isn't it suppose to say "2012-2013" ?