Student Loans and Education Financing updated 2013

1.  What student loan options do I have?

There are 2 main government student loan options (National and Provincial) and there are Education Loans from Financial Institutions like Credit Unions and banks.

2.  Which is best for me?

 I would recommend starting with the Provincial and National student loan programs.  You apply for both on the same application.  With these government student loans you do not pay or accumulate interest while you are going to school, there are some payment relief programs in place after graduation, and the interest paid on government student loans is tax deductible.  There are also some scholarships or grants that may decrease what you owe for government student loans.

More information can be found at http://alis.alberta.ca/ec/fo/pay/loans-grants.html

3.  So why would I use a credit union or bank education loan?  

What does college and university cost?

We get this question quite a bit, especially in the fall when parents and grandparents are thinking about school.
The Edmonton Journal has a good article explaining the costs of education.  For 2009, the articles says that university tuition and books will cost about $6,500 a year, around $4,000 in personal costs, and another $11,000 for room and board if the student lives away form home.  These are general costs and will vary depending on the college and lifestyle.

http://www.canada.com/business/Post+secondary+costs/1971082/story.html

So that cost comes out to about $22,000 per year, and that's if the student lives moderately.  While there are Government Student Loans, and every financial institution has student loans (including us and our very good education loan), it's a lot better for the student to avoid all that debt by saving the money before school.  The best way to do that is through the Registered Education Savings Plan or RESP.

The basics of  RESPs are:

• You can open an RESP as soon as the child is born. 
• The money in the plan grows tax-free and the government offers special savings incentives (from 20% up to 40% depending on family income)
  
• When the child enters a qualified educational program at the post-secondary level, he or she can start drawing on the accumulated savings. 
• Only the child will pay taxes on the money he or she withdraws. Since many students have little or no other income, they usually don’t have to pay much, if any, tax when they withdraw money from their plan.

You can talk to one of our Member Service Representatives to find out more about RESPs or you can visit the following government website for more details about this very good program.
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/learning/education_savings/index.shtml

Jerry