The Cord Weekly

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With the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) anticipating their provincial lobby conference at Queen's Park in the upcoming weeks, their General Assembly held on the weekend of Nov. 4 allowed the member schools to outline the organization's priorities. Three of OUSA's policy papers "” regarding student financial assistance, accessibility and international students "” were re-evaluated and approved during the plenary session on Nov. 7. "There's a never ending stream of changes that could be made to improve [the Ontario Student Assistance Program] OSAP for students," said Alexi White, executive director of OUSA. Last spring, the provincial government made several changes to the program, including doubling the in-study income exemption from $50 to $100 per week, however there are still shortfalls OUSA believes must be addressed. "One is lowering the parental contributions," White explained, noting that OSAP calculates a greater parental contribution requirement than the national student loan, leaving many students under funded. He added that OUSA's policy on the student loan system is also advocating for a decrease in the interest rate currently set on the loans, from prime plus one to simply the prime interest rate which although seems insignificant would make a huge difference to a student repaying their loans years after they graduate.

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