Ontario College students affected by faculty strike-read about financial aid/refund

[Ciel]

Spotted the Toronto Star article today about the two options available to current students attending Ontario Colleges that had striking faculty.

1) If you are a student quitting college during the strike, you will have two weeks to apply for a tuition refund.
2) If you are a student that experienced financial hardship due to the strike and now longer semester, later this week you can apply for financial aid (up to $500).

The aid money will come from the net savings colleges have from not paying their striking staff during the labour dispute. Students will apply to their college for the money. Applications are available later this week, the government said.
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Payouts to students from the fund will not count against their Ontario Student Assistance Plan assessments.
Students receiving OSAP money who have their current semester extended and were likely to graduate by December 31 will receive additional assistance money for as long as their course program continues.
Any student deciding to quit college has two weeks to get a refund.

https://www.thestar.com/news/queensp...on-refund.html

What is posted on the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development website about the back to work legislation for the college strike:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/informat...college-strike

[Ciel]

Today's Hamilton Spectator article on the refund/financial aid mentioned that the two week tuition refund window begins to count down as the start of classes on Tuesday begin-which is TODAY. Both full-time domestic and international students can apply for the financial aid. https://news.ontario.ca/maesd/en/201...h-studies.html


Another article on reactions to the refunds and aid options offered by the education minister:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...rike-1.4410292

This is information that Mohawk College has posted for its students attending its programs via various streams:
https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/return-to-mohawk

[Ciel]

Last week in the community paper, a letter to the editor suggested that college teachers (actually they earned the right to be called professors in 1989, from that Oct. strike) cannot strike before July 1. The writer was clearly not aware that colleges use a semester system, of up to 3 x 13 week semesters per year. So Fall runs mid-Sept to mid-Dec, Winter runs early Jan to end of April and Spring runs May to end of August.

Another local Hamilton paper offered a professor a chance to explain her viewpoint as a striker what the issues at colleges are for her and her colleagues-page 5 of the Nov. 16 View magazine:
http://viewmag.com/issue/issue-47-no...ember-23-2017/

[Ciel]

International students attending Ontario colleges face immigration issues if they withdraw from college. Yet the $500 hardship money offered to make up for the strike is not seen as enough money either as international students pay triple the tuition that domestic students pay.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ge-strike.html

[Ciel]

I saw this item last week in the newspaper about Mohawk College students getting tuition refunds. 4-6 weeks' wait for a refund that is processed manually. Too slow in the 21st century-the province should have stepped up the speed and cut wait time to under 2 weeks this close to Christmas/end of 2017.

[Ciel]

OK, I saw a number as to how many Ontario college students applied for tuition refunds. Love to know which colleges put money back into the hands of students who applied for refunds. I'm questioning the "received" claim in the article.

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...early-numbers/

[Ciel]

The Ontario college strike cost the provincial government some money:
https://www.thestar.com/news/queensp...ge-strike.html

By the way, only about 16 colleges in Ontario will have some kind of reading week this month. Other colleges have cancelled their winter reading weeks in order to have enough time to finish semesters.