Provincial student loan funding is available through Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) for Ontario residents and StudentAidBC (SABC) for residents of British Columbia.

Students must be registered as domestic students and meet all eligibility criteria as set out by each respective funding program. Students who have never applied for provincial funding before will need to register and create a profile before submitting an application for funding.

Program Eligibility 

Students must be in a funding-approved program to be considered for eligibility. Some programs may not be eligible for funding for their provincial loan program. If your desired program is not specified in the program listing, you should confirm its funding eligibility with SAC.

Students must be enrolled in a minimum full-time course load (as defined by the provincial funding program) for a minimum and specified length of time to be considered as full time. Students should verify program length details via the provincial loan sites.

Course Loads 

Northeastern University considers eight credits per term to be full time. As such, students must be enrolled in a minimum 60% course load (five credits) for each term of study to be considered for full-time provincial funding. Full-Time provincial funding also requires that a study period be a minimum of 12 weeks in length. (Minimum requirements may change and should be confirmed via OSAP or SABC). If there are gaps in your course offerings, this may impact your funding eligibility. Students taking less than a 60% course load may apply for part-time provincial funding. NOTE: Full-time and part-time applications are nontransferable and must be submitted separately.

Application Processing 

Provincial loan applications are submitted online, with required documents uploaded directly to their respective portals. The ministry will review and process all required documentation. Once all submitted documents have been approved, student funding assessments will be made available. Funding will then be disbursed in two installments–one at the start of the study period and the second halfway through.

Students who previously received provincial loans and are continuing to study on a full-time basis (with an approved program and course load), but who will not be applying for additional provincial funding, must apply for Continuation of Interest-Free Status (CIFS) via their OSAP portal or for In-Study Payment-Free Status (ISPFS) via their SABC dashboard to maintain any previous loans in nonpayment/noninterest status. CIFS/ISPFS applications should be submitted on a term-by-term basis.

OSAP Academic Progress

All OSAP applicants are expected to successfully complete all study periods in which they receive provincial funding for. OSAP Academic Progress consists of 3 major categories: OSAP Academic Probation, OSAP Academic Restrictions and OSAP Edits. OSAP Academic Probation (OSAP AP) is flagged at the first instance of not maintaining satisfactory OSAP AP, while OSAP Academic Restrictions is flagged at the second instance. OSAP Edits refers to multiple changes in the program of study and/or the repetition of courses.

FULL-TIME OSAP ACADMEIC PROGRESS

Students must successfully complete a minimum 60% course load per term, to maintain OSAP eligibility. If a student begins their study period at the minimum course load, they must successfully complete all courses being funded. Course enrollment is monitored, and grades are reviewed at the end of each term, to ensure students maintain OSAP eligibility criteria. Failure to maintain a Full-Time OSAP status (ie. dropping to a Part-Time course load, failing courses, withdrawing from studies, etc.) can result in being placed on OSAP Academic Probation. Please note that OSAP Academic Probation is separate from being placed on a probationary status with your academic department. While on Full-Time OSAP Academic Probation, students can still apply for additional funding. They will be required to submit additional supporting documentation to be taken into consideration. If there is a second instance of not maintaining OSAP Academic Progress, the OSAP AP status will be upgraded to OSAP Academic Restrictions. Students on OSAP Academic Restrictions are barred from receiving Full-Time OSAP funding for at least one year. For more details, please discuss your details with an Student Accounts Canada staff member.

PART-TIME OSAP ACADEMIC PROBATION

Students who receive Part-Time OSAP funding must successfully complete all courses that are funded. Failure to successfully complete PT OSAP-funded courses will result in being placed on Part-Time OSAP Academic Probation. Please note that PT OSAP Academic Probation is separate from Full-Time OSAP Academic Probation, and also separate from being on a probationary status with your Academic department. Students who are placed on PT OSAP Academic Probation are barred from PT OSAP funding until they have self-funded and successfully completed at least one term of studies.

National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC)

The NSLSC is the approved lender for Canadian federal and provincial loans.  Once a student receives government funding, they will be issued an NSLSC Loan Account Number.  This can be used to create an online NSLSC account, where all loan details can be reviewed. 

*Please keep in mind that an NSLSC Loan Account Number is separate from a provincial lender account number (ie. OSAP Account Number = OAN). 

All details pertaining to student loans and the repayment process are overseen by the NSLSC, including payment due dates, loan account balances, repayment schedules and other loan details.  Graduated students (or those no longer attending studies on a full[-time basis) can manage their provincial student loan obligations through their NSLSC online accounts and communicating with the NSLSC directly.  This includes applying online for the NSLSC’s Repayment Assistance Program for students in need of alternate payment schedules (where permissible).