Canadian Students-Financial Aid

[EyeCU09]

I am a Canadian student and I'm looking for loan options that are available to us in order to study in the States. I have looked in Provincial , federal loans as well as bank loans and even if I get accepted for both, there is still a lot of outstanding tuition fees that won't be covered.

I just wanted more information from any current or already graduated Canadian students out there about how they managed to pay their educational expenses + living expenses because we are looking at more than $250,000 (Canadian Dollars) for four years.

Any help would be appreciated =)

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[Pre-optometryStudent33]

Im also on the boat as you..lemme know if you find anything that can help us

 

[kroekerh2]

you may have to ask your parents to co-sign for a loan

 

[catsomgcats]

Our lives suck... I wish Canada had more optometry schools I'm totally in the same position as you except I'm still just finishing my 2nd year undergrad. With the current exchange rate... I hope the Canadian dollar rises soon and stays up.

 

[Nnhi_89]

I am not Canadian but international students also. I have researched a few private loans. It look like all private loans required you to have a cosign who is US citizen.

 

[Optoman21]

Hey guys im also a Canadian student starting at NOVA in fall Of this year. So I had these concerns as well regarding financoal aid and loans and here is what I came up (for us there isn't a lot of options)

1.) Get a bank loan or private loan. I think all major Canadian banks have student professional program loans which can cover a huge percentage of the cost. if you just came out of undergrad like me then you need to CO sign with your parents or other family member with credibility. I got mine from scotiabank and I reccomend them especially if you already have an account there. A tip is to ask/argue for the lowest interest rate possible. I lucked out since my dad knew the manager and we got interest at just prime.

2.) Apply for OSAP. Yes I know the interest rates for it is high but they don't charge you interest as long as you are in a school program. So basically no interest for four and then you can pay that back first thing. OSAP only gives 40k total or 10k per year Max for international programs.

3.) Apply for scholarships at the school attending. There are scholarships for international students which you can apply for. I applied late so I didn't end up getting one bUT depending on school you may want to Ask.

4.) Although we probably won't be able to manage a job while studying its good to look into work opportunities in the school like reception for an office or at the residence of your school. That is manageable since you can study and work together with less stress.

5.) Last but not least , try to save money wherever you can during the next 4 years and hopefully if the Canadian dollars stays low as now or gets lower we won't have an issue paying the loans back if we chose to work in the states.

Hope this helps somewhat!

 

[shaminderdhaliwal]

I am also a Canadian Student attending Optometry school this Fall in the United States!

This question is one of my biggest concerns and I can provide you with the information I have gathered so far.
1) One of the best ways to go is try and get a Provincial and Federal Government loan. Once you apply for your provincial Loan, they do the Federal application all in one so dont worry about doing two separate applications. I spoke with a representative on the phone for the Manitoba Provincial Loan as that is my home province, and she told me applications don't open up till some time in may for Fall 2015 but how it works is they can provide up to a maximum of $250 CAD per week of study, so for a typical September to April semester here, its close to #12,000 dollars. Also there is no maximum of weeks of study, so it can be all 52 weeks of the year if it happened to run that long.

2) The part that will cover most of your tuition would be a Canadian Bank loan. Most banks that I have contacted all have a similar structure to how they give out loans to Canadian students studying outside of the US and they have become much more strict on this in the past couple of years. Major banks such as CIBC, Scotiabank, RBC have all told me they do a maximum of $125,000 CAD for the entire 4 years with an interest of Prime plus 1 +/- .5. Now if you know someone at a bank or have any connections, you might be able to get better deals on the interest, as for the actual maximum amount, Im confident they are firm, but again, you never know what connections can do for you. I have not spoken to TD bank yet but online it says to come see a consultant because each program varies on cost and they try to accommodate that. TD is one of the biggest banks in Canada so I have little hope that they have rules where you get more than 125,000 per year but I am going to meet someone soon because if they do, it would be perfect!

3) Any remainder is our own cost. I don't come from a very wealthy family background where I want to put this huge burden on my parents either So i am looking for any option I can. It sucks how money can prevent someone from reaching a goal of theirs but people have done this and do it all the time so we all should be able to figure it out!

Best of Luck and if you find out any information, share with the rest of us!

 

[EyeCU09]

I am also a Canadian Student attending Optometry school this Fall in the United States!

This question is one of my biggest concerns and I can provide you with the information I have gathered so far.
1) One of the best ways to go is try and get a Provincial and Federal Government loan. Once you apply for your provincial Loan, they do the Federal application all in one so dont worry about doing two separate applications. I spoke with a representative on the phone for the Manitoba Provincial Loan as that is my home province, and she told me applications don't open up till some time in may for Fall 2015 but how it works is they can provide up to a maximum of $250 CAD per week of study, so for a typical September to April semester here, its close to #12,000 dollars. Also there is no maximum of weeks of study, so it can be all 52 weeks of the year if it happened to run that long.

2) The part that will cover most of your tuition would be a Canadian Bank loan. Most banks that I have contacted all have a similar structure to how they give out loans to Canadian students studying outside of the US and they have become much more strict on this in the past couple of years. Major banks such as CIBC, Scotiabank, RBC have all told me they do a maximum of $125,000 CAD for the entire 4 years with an interest of Prime plus 1 +/- .5. Now if you know someone at a bank or have any connections, you might be able to get better deals on the interest, as for the actual maximum amount, Im confident they are firm, but again, you never know what connections can do for you. I have not spoken to TD bank yet but online it says to come see a consultant because each program varies on cost and they try to accommodate that. TD is one of the biggest banks in Canada so I have little hope that they have rules where you get more than 125,000 per year but I am going to meet someone soon because if they do, it would be perfect!

3) Any remainder is our own cost. I don't come from a very wealthy family background where I want to put this huge burden on my parents either So i am looking for any option I can. It sucks how money can prevent someone from reaching a goal of theirs but people have done this and do it all the time so we all should be able to figure it out!

Best of Luck and if you find out any information, share with the rest of us!

Thank you all for some really helpful information. I met an RBC representative last week and it was mentioned that I would definitely need a co-signer since I will be living out of Canada. RBC gives up to $125,000 maximum once the loan application is approved so I will be going again this week with my co-signer.
I have heard from a friend that TD offers a maximum of $80,000 and they divide it into 4 years giving us $20,000 each school year which is way less than we need as optometry students and if the provincial/federal student loan comes up to, let's say $15,000, we still can't cover tuition in U.S Dollars.

I hope this helps and yes financial constraints can really limit our academic capabilities if we are not able to provide the accurate tuition. It is indeed a stressful part of our education as future optometry students.

 

[LVOD20]

Did RBC mention any flexibility with the loan (increasing it if you needed more than the maximum)? I spoke with a BMO rep and she said they were flexible but unfortunately, their base max is also $80,000.

 

[Wobble]

I went to RBC and their interest rate was prime +1.75 while Scotiabank is prime +0.5 which is a better deal in my opinion.

 

[Pre-optometryStudent33]

Did RBC mention any flexibility with the loan (increasing it if you needed more than the maximum)? I spoke with a BMO rep and she said they were flexible but unfortunately, their base max is also $80,000.

I belive RBC will go a maximum of 125,000, nothing higher. The government loan on the other hand has some flexibility depending on your situation

 

[Pre-optometryStudent33]

Did RBC mention any flexibility with the loan (increasing it if you needed more than the maximum)? I spoke with a BMO rep and she said they were flexible but unfortunately, their base max is also $80,000.

Sorry, they MIGHT give you more money towards the end of your degree if you need it at that time but thats a big risk to depend on in your 4th year

 

[EyeCU09]

Just wanted to give some more information to fellow Canadians looking into bank loans. I got approved for the $125,000 from RBC but this amount is divided into 4 years and I won't be receiving the entire amount at once. I will be getting the remaining amount from the Provincial/Federal student loans but will still be short. Also, a cosigner is definitely required since we will be leaving Canada to study. I hope it helps.

 

[LVOD20]

Does anyone have information on Canadian students obtaining American bank loans with an American cosigner? I'm thinking this would be a good option seeing as I will come up short with a Canadian bank loan.

 

[knioette]

Can you get loans from multiple banks?

 

[Pre-optometryStudent33]

Can you get loans from multiple banks?

As far as i know, no..when you go for the loan they check your credit. Then if you have too much debt ($125, 000 loan from a different bank) they will reject you. Plus they are both student loans which doesnt help either. One MIGHT be able to get a large personal line of credit plus student line of credit but you would need a very high income. Going out of Canada makes it much much harder as well. This is my personal guess from my experience dealing with different banks (CIBC, RBC, Scotia) so I might be wrong but I have grear credit and no other debt and I am still stuck (co-signer issues) so I would imagine 2 loans would be even harder

 

[whymisha]

Hey so the amount the bank will loan you basically depends on how much your cosigner has. I got higher than the supposed "max" from RBC, partly due to my cosigner and partly due to a connection. This may not help many others, but I'm just saying it's possible. Also, you may have better luck if your cosigner is willing to take out a line of credit in their name instead of yours. This way, it is also possible to get loans from multiple banks, one in your name, and one in your cosigner's name, should the need arise.