Student Loans
The High Cost of Student Loans:
Getting a higher education these days is a really expensive proposition, and many students and their families simply don’t have the financial resources to fund the high cost of a college degree or university education themselves. For this reason, they need to resort to borrowing to cover the costs. These kinds of loans are have come to be called ‘Student Loans’,
Student loans are massively important to Canadian society and Canada’s competitive position in the world economy because without them, a great many young people could never become the doctors, lawyers, engineers, civil servants, business people and workers that our society needs.
It is for this reason that student loans should be made available and be accessible to as many students as possible, to fuel the innovation and growth of the economy that we need to function in a modern society. Student loans should also be constructed in such a way as to ensure that students are allowed a real opportunity to succeed in their studies, and most importantly - to be able to pay back the student loan without being crushed by an impossible to manage debt burden.
Student loans are typically made available by: family members, banks, or other financial institutions and governments of various kinds (usually provincial or federal), and fortunately, student loans usually carry lower interest rates than other loans because they are often issued by government or assisted by government agencies or policies in one way or another.
Unfortunately due to a variety of factors (mostly poor program management and bureaucracy), many students end their studies saddled with mountains of debt.
According to Statscan.gc.ca’s ‘National Graduates Survey of Student Debt‘:
“About one-half of college graduates and bachelor graduates (graduates from a university bachelor’s program) from the class of 2000 left school owing money for their education, mostly in the form of government student loans.”
And:
“Only 24% of bachelor graduates and 30% of college graduates reported difficulties with repayment.”
What? - Only 24%??? - Only 30%???
Those numbers are incredible when compared with the general populations experience with mortgages or auto loans and credit cards. Clearly, it appears that the system for student loans is not functioning as it should.
As with most kinds of debt, without a thorough investigation of the implications of a student loan and a clear path to repayment, student debt is a real burden for many graduates that hangs over their heads for many years after they enter the workforce. Not even bankruptcy offers a way out of the problems that some student debtors find themselves in.
Before you take on a student loan, try to objectively balance the rewards of the qualifications that you are seeking with the debt burden and the consequences you are taking on. Don’t forget to seriously consider the “trades” which may be less expensive to learn and may well be more lucrative than certain college or university degrees. Yes, a higher education is expensive, but so is years and years of sub standard living while struggling to repay your accumulated student debt.
Choose wisely to avoid student loan repayment problems down the road.
Additional student loan application information by Province:
BC - British Columbia:
British Columbia student loan application information
Ontario:
Ontario student loan application information
Quebec:
Quebec student loan application information
Manitoba
Manitoba student loan application information
Alberta
Alberta student loan application information
New Brunswick:
New Brunswick student loan application information
PEI - Prince Edward Island:
Prince Edward Island student loan application information
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan student loan application information
Nova Scotia:
Nova Scotia student loan application information
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador student loan application information
North West Territories
North West Territories student loan application information
Nunavut
Nunavut student loan application information
Yukon
Yukon student loan application information
