Student Loans For Canadians?

[Ryn]

I was just wondering how most Canadians pay for their schooling in the states.

I know that banks usually give a maximum of $250,000 as a line of credit if your parents cosign. However, I do not really know of any additional methods of getting financial aid. I also don't qualify for scholarships in the US since I am a Canadian citizen. How do you guys do it?

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[dl9006]

I was just wondering how most Canadians pay for their schooling in the states.

I know that banks usually give a maximum of $250,000 as a line of credit if your parents cosign. However, I do not really know of any additional methods of getting financial aid. I also don't qualify for scholarships in the US since I am a Canadian citizen. How do you guys do it?

i think the only way for us canadians to fund our education (other than rich parents) is by getting gov student loans + the school's own loan + parents/family contribution on top of the 250k bank loan.

gov student loans for 4yr is about ~$35,000-40,000
school own loan(depends on the school, of course) would be about 4000x4 years=$16000

in total with the bank loan, you can secure apprx 250,000+40,000+ 16,000= about 300k.

most private schools will cost about 350k to 380k.



hopefully your family can cover for the rest (about 20-30k per year)..

.

loans have been a big headache for me ever since my acceptance..


i suppose another method would be to secure a us co-signer that's seems to be a lot of hassle as well since you have to apply every year for the next year's amount. another bad thing about US private loans is the crazy high interest rate(2.5% prime in canada vs 4-13% US private bank)..you'll be drowning in debt by the time you graduate. to make it even more difficult, the employees that i have talked over the phone do not seem very educated in handling international student loans. kind of gave up looking at US private loans. it's too complicated 🙁

currently, i am not aware of any other methods to fund my education other than this.
if you find out other sources of loans, please let us know as well. hopefully other canadian students can provide more input.

good luck!



also, the 250k bank loan is a bit harder for those of us going to the US since banks become much pickier about your co-signer.
ideally your co-signer should have high income + assets + good credit. Lol if my cosigner is that balling and is willing to take on the risk of the loan then i would just borrow money from him/her. why bother with the bank?
(what a pain!)

 

[Ryn]

i think the only way for us canadians to fund our education (other than rich parents) is by getting gov student loans + the school's own loan + parents/family contribution on top of the 250k bank loan.

gov student loans for 4yr is about ~$35,000-40,000
school own loan(depends on the school, of course) would be about 4000x4 years=$16000

in total with the bank loan, you can secure apprx 250,000+40,000+ 16,000= about 300k.

most private schools will cost about 350k to 380k.



hopefully your family can cover for the rest (about 20-30k per year)..

.

loans have been a big headache for me ever since my acceptance..


i suppose another method would be to secure a us co-signer that's seems to be a lot of hassle as well since you have to apply every year for the next year's amount. another bad thing about US private loans is the crazy high interest rate(2.5% prime in canada vs 4-13% US private bank)..you'll be drowning in debt by the time you graduate. to make it even more difficult, the employees that i have talked over the phone do not seem very educated in handling international student loans. kind of gave up looking at US private loans. it's too complicated 🙁

currently, i am not aware of any other methods to fund my education other than this.
if you find out other sources of loans, please let us know as well. hopefully other canadian students can provide more input.

good luck!



also, the 250k bank loan is a bit harder for those of us going to the US since banks become much pickier about your co-signer.
ideally your co-signer should have high income + assets + good credit. Lol if my cosigner is that balling and is willing to take on the risk of the loan then i would just borrow money from him/her. why bother with the bank?
(what a pain!)

Hey, thanks so much for your reply. I'm a complete noob when it comes to loans since I just paid for all of my undergrad through scholarships from my University.

1)How do you apply for the government loan if you aren't going to school in Canada? For some reason, I thought they were only available for Canadian schools.

2) Can you take out a line of credit from more than one bank? Ie. RBC, Bank of Montreal, TD Bank Or is the line of credit only given just once?

3) I don't know if this will help, but I've been applying to scholarships at the University of Alberta (I'm an undergrad there now), and I've already gotten $5000 in scholarships within the last 6 months. I've received the TD melonex scholarship for volunteering, an Alumni scholarship, and a engineering scholarship because my father is an engineer (I'm am NOT enrolled in engineering), and one for having a certain last name etc. If you go look at your university's scholarship website, there are obscure scholarships that are just waiting to be given out. This is ESPECIALLY if you have extensive volunteer and extracurriculars and a GPA>3.7. If your GPA is lower, you may still have a good chance because I think a lot of people don't apply.

 

[dl9006]

1) you can get gov loans for approved us schools. call your provincial loan office for more info as it's prob dif for each province

2) no, you can't get more than one line of credit because banks look up your credit report when they give you a loan. it's too much risk for them for another bank to give you another loan.

3) thanks!

 

[Ryn]

1) you can get gov loans for approved us schools. call your provincial loan office for more info as it's prob dif for each province

2) no, you can't get more than one line of credit because banks look up your credit report when they give you a loan. it's too much risk for them for another bank to give you another loan.

3) thanks!

Btw, I think the scholarships only look at your most recent year. So if you have a >3.7 for that year alone, you have a pretty good chance.

 

[camouflage831]

which bank gives you $250K? I thought it was 150K, maybe 200K..

 

[watt]

yup im pretty sure its just $150K. If you need more in upper years then some banks will up it to $200K (RBC and Scotia from what I've read)
As for government student loans, OSAP (in ontario) also offers just over $8000/yr. The remaining will have to come from your parents or another cosigner.
From what I have researched, you can bargain with your bank when looking for a loan. Some people have gotten prime interest rate for the life of the loan. Try and get the best deal possible as it will save you thousands (and possibly tens of thousands) in the future.

 

[Ryn]

yup im pretty sure its just $150K. If you need more in upper years then some banks will up it to $200K (RBC and Scotia from what I've read)
As for government student loans, OSAP (in ontario) also offers just over $8000/yr. The remaining will have to come from your parents or another cosigner.
From what I have researched, you can bargain with your bank when looking for a loan. Some people have gotten prime interest rate for the life of the loan. Try and get the best deal possible as it will save you thousands (and possibly tens of thousands) in the future.

Oh wow, thanks! Do you know if there is a government student loan program for Alberta residents like OSAP?

 

[watt]

Take a look at the premed101 forums. Theyre more helpful for Canadian students.
I'm not too sure about government student loans in Alberta, but im pretty sure that all provinces offer this.

Here are some links you should take a look at. Theres a lot of helpful information there. 🙂

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37967
http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39813
http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35645
http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34912
http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32091