The new $500 deposit fee will become effective for domestic student in September
Photo: Flickr user JoshNV (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
George Brown College’s (GBC) domestic students will be required to pay an initial non-refundable deposit once per academic year of $500 that will be applied towards their tuition fees.
Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities has introduced a new set of tuition rules, which will be fully implemented by the 2015-16 school year.
Shay Sanders, the LGBTQ representative for the Student Association (SA), believes this new policy is “creating a serious barrier to education.”
For students who will be receiving financial aid from the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), this means that the $500 deposit is out-of-pocket, as students won’t receive their loans until September.
“Honestly, it makes sense, although I still have some questions about the OSAP aspect,” says Saroop Pahal, director of internal affairs for the SA. “If your mind is set on going to college and you have to pay the money, it’s like a stepping stone—your first step towards going to college.”
The initial deposit for new and returning students for September will be due on June 15, while tuition fees for September will be due Aug. 10, for non-OSAP recipients, and on Sept. 21 for OSAP recipients.
Having a personal understanding on the financial burden caused by additional college fees, Sanders says that, “if you’re unsure about your program or where you’re going to be in three months, you don’t get the money back and that’s a serious hit.”
However, the new tuition policy does provide an upside for GBC students.
With the new rules, all post-secondary institutions in Ontario will no longer have deferral fees for students who miss the tuition due date. For low-income students, coming up with the $145 deferral fee may have already been an issue.
Pahal also says that the SA will continue to advocate for students in light of this new policy, “we plan to sit down with the vice-president and talk about the issues and concerns that students have with this, and to see how we can move forward.”
If students are unable to pay the balance of their tuition fee or neglect to do it by the due date, the college will charge a late fee of $150.
“That’s still an additional cost,” said Sanders. “If you don’t have everything in order you’re going to have to pay even more money.”
With files from Tina Todaro
