The question of OSAP eligibility has always been a dodgy one. For those who just collect it and do not want or have time to earn income during the school year, it seems a relatively simple process. You don’t have money, the government (kindly?) gives you some.

For those of us with one or two part-time jobs and OSAP, it hardly seems fair that we should be penalized for trying to work our way through school. One gets penalized in the payout department for both making money and reporting it, and for making money and not reporting it. Either way, a student’s eligibility, on which many a campus job depends, is jeopardized if you or your parents fall short. It makes earning money difficult if OSAP declares you ineligible.

The real clincher (listen carefully) comes when a loan officer decides to let you in on the secret of loan overpayments. I was told (verbally, and it’s not in their regular literature, by the way) that the difference of what I make, which increases by the year according to their calculations, versus the loans I receive, would be deducted from future loans. This means that if I continue to make money during the school year, my loans will decrease.

But what I didn’t find out until a few weeks ago was that I have to pay OSAP over $1,500 in overpayments before I will be considered eligible again.

I give them money so I can be eligible to receive their loans. How does that make sense? It doesn’t really, and it accrues interest over a two-year period of time. In short, an interest-free loan given to me by OSAP forces me to pay back part of my loan in the middle of my academic session. This is after having worked during the school year two years in a row. And don’t think they always tell you these things. When I rang them up, the loan supervisor and the loan officer couldn’t decide whether or not I had been informed. I am being penalized for being a diligent student and reporting my income.

Where does that leave me? Up shit creek with two loans outstanding, that’s where. And so, you’ve been warned. If you already knew about this policy, you don’t know how lucky you are. I find it far more pleasant to deal with a bank that actually cares about customer service than a government that doesn’t care if you finish your education.