How much money you’ll get and when it will be released

2023-24 OSAP Application for Full-time Students

The amount of money you can get depends on:

• Education expenses: the amount of money you need to cover tuition, books, child care, personal living expenses, supplies and equipment.
• Personal financial situation: how much you and your family are expected to contribute, based on income and other factors.

The basic formula is:

Allowed education expenses – money you’re expected to contribute = financial need

Once all the items that are needed to calculate your funding are received, approved and processed, your OSAP funding will be calculated. You will usually get your funding in two instalments:

• 1st instalment: when you begin your studies (e.g. September).
• 2nd instalment: half way through your study period (e.g. January).

When it is time for your funding to be released, the ministry will send notification to the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) who will deposit the funds into your bank account. The bank account is the one you filled out on your MSFAA. If for any reason the NSLSC is unable to deposit the funds into your bank account (e.g. due to invalid account number), it will create a cheque and mail it to you. Therefore, it is very important that you keep your bank account information up to date with the NSLSC. Contact the NSLSC directly at 1-888-815-4514 for any questions about the deposit of your funding and/or your bank account information.