Types of Funding

Assessing Need in Alberta

The Student Loan program is a social program instituted through a joint effort from the provincial and federal governments. Because it is considered a social assistance program, people can be denied funding. The government expects a student’s education to be funded via three avenues, including parent contribution, student contribution and student loans. This means that a student loan is not meant to cover the whole cost of education but rather to supplement the student's resources.

Alberta Students’ Finance uses the following formual to calculate a student's need:
Allowable Costs – Resources Available = Financial Need

Living Allowances for 2010/2011 (Alberta Student Loans)

Single Student Budget Expenses

Married Budget by Family Size

Single Parent’s Budget by Family Size

Other allowable costs include:

• Medical/dental expenses
• Child care expenses
• Tuition, fees, supplies, books, instruments.

Expected resources include:

• Minimum student contribution of $1350
• Spousal/parental contribution
• Scholarships over $1800 for the Federal assessment (scholarships will no longer be used as a resource to determine provincial eligibility)
• Assets
• RRSPs after the exemption of $2000/year out of high school

For an estimated loan amount, you can use the CanLearn Student Loan Estimator

Alberta Student Loan Maximums

There are two types of loan maximums including yearly loan limit and lifetime limits. One or both of these maximum types may limit a student's funding.

Yearly Loan Limit (2011/2012)

The maximum amount of loan money is the combined amount of the Canada Student Loan and Alberta Student Loan. Grant monies such as ones from the Canada Student Grant Program, the Alberta Opportunities Bursary and the Northern Alberta Development Council Bursary may be granted beyond loan maximums.

Exceptions to Yearly Loan Limits (2011/2012)

The following programs have exceptions to the Yearly Loan Limit from the above table.

Exceptions may be made for other professional and graduate students at the discretion of the Students Finance Board.

Lifetime Limits (updated for 2011/2012 studies)

The maximum amount of money that the Student Finance Board will loan to a student during his/her lifetime.

Undergraduate and Private Vocational Schools: $60 000

Dental Hygiene: $75 000

Graduate Programs
Master's: $75 000
MBA: $95 000
Doctoral: $95 000

Professional Programs
Medicine: $150 000
Dentistry: $150 000
Veterinary Medicine: $95 000
Law: $95 000
Optometry: $95 000
Chiropractic Science: $95 000
Pharmacy: $75 000

Other Information:

Lifetime Loan Limits for Alberta Student Loan (ASL)

If a student repays a portion of their Alberta Student Loan, they may borrow again up to their lifetime maximum.

Weeks of Study Loan Limits for the Canada Student Loan (CSL) Program

• The maximum CSL funding a student may receive is $210/week. This maximum applies to all weeks of studies for which a "Certificate of Eligibility" (Schedule 1) or a "Confirmation of Enrolment" (Schedule 2) was issued.
• Students may be eligible to receive Canada Student Loans and federal grant money after they have reached their provincial lifetime loan limits if they have remaining weeks below their CSL maximum.

Program | Maximum Weeks of Studies Funding from CSL Undergraduate/Masters | 340 ($71,400) Doctorate | 400 ($84,000) Students with permanent disabilities | 520 ($109,200)

Years of Program + 1 Limit

For both the Alberta Student Loans & Canada Student Loans programs, students are only granted funding for the standard number of years to finish their programs, plus one additional year (i.e. Bachelor of Arts program would be eligible for 4 years [as set by the U of A] + 1 year = 5 years of funding).

• Students are allowed to switch programs once, provided their lifetime limits have not been reached.
• Students are not eligible for loans when repeating a period of study solely for the purpose of improving their grades
• For students who withdraw from a period of study, the uncompleted period will count towards the ë+1 limit.
• Students with permanent disabilities are exempt from the Years of Program + 1 Limit, but are subject to lifetime limits.

Students who exceed this requirement may be required to show proof that they will complete their program within a reasonable timeframe prior to funding being released to them.