Pay Off OSAP ASAP?

[lame23]

are you telling me I'm supposed to let the excess money from my osap loan sit in a 0% account? Just because I have a few grand in excess of my tuition costs from my osap+bursary doesn't really make me 'screwing' over fellow students. do you expect me to have an exact $0 account balance?

anyway. I'm still getting mixed answers as to what to do... to pay off in full or in monthly payments? =)

How can you pay your osap while your still in school? (e.g one time payment of $4,000 from a gift/lottery winnings). TIA

[peterpatch]

How can you pay your osap while your still in school? (e.g one time payment of $4,000 from a gift/lottery winnings). TIA

You should contact the OSAP people about paying it off. Although this could be dangerous. The may re-assess you and ask for even more money back.

The OSAP system works by providing financing to people who need it. They use a formula to determine the eligibility and amount of funding. If someone gets too much it does not affect other OSAP students, it does however affect the tax payers who finance the OSAP program. However defining "too much OSAP" is very subjective. Some people think that if you are not just scraping by every month then you have too much funding. On the other hand I know people who felt OSAP entitled them to a car and large screen TV. My opinion is that you should be able to live in a way that allows you to have a reasonable level of entertainment every week, eat healthy and live in a place that is healthy and a good studying environment. I also believe that medical Doctors should be completely forgiven any school loans they take out if they become full doctors and stay in Canada and practise for 5-7 years after finishing their academics.

[factum7000]

Oops, forgot to chime in on the original topic.

OSAP gives you 6 months interest free after graduation, I believe. After that, the interest charged is quite high, but tax deductible. So it seems to be the amount of interest vs. the benefit of getting tax deductions. Are student LOCs tax deductible?

I've been told that it is better to pay off your OSAP loan with a student LOC (prime + 1). However, I haven't personally investigated all the possibilities yet.

NO...OSAP interest begins the month after you've finished your last final exam.. e.g. if your last exam is on April 27th, interest begins on May 1st.

You are required to begin payments 6 months afterwards.

[factum7000]

wow this thread is 2 years old. I'm sure the OP has resolved his dilemma?