McMaster students rally in protest of Ford’s unpopular OSAP changes

Students rallied at McMaster University Friday afternoon to fight against Ontario’s upcoming changes to the province’s student aid assistance program.

Those changes, combined with the lifting of the tuition freeze, has students worried about whether they’ll even be able to afford to further their education.

University and college students are furious over the Ford government’s new post-secondary education funding plan.

“It’s going to impact students in a lot of different ways,” said McMaster Student Union President Piper Plavins. “I think at the end of the day, students are already struggling to afford food, to afford books, to afford textbooks.”

WATCH MORE: Students and critics urge Ford government to reverse OSAP changes

Under the proposed changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) up to 25 per cent of a student’s funding would be made up of grants.

The remaining 75 per cent would be a loan.

Currently, post-secondary students can receive up to 85 per cent of their OSAP funding as a grant, with just 15 per cent as a repayable loan.

Some students said that the new changes are “boxing them in” preventing them from progressing further in their studies.

They say the primary reason why they’re able to go to post-secondary is because of the current OSAP model.

WATCH MORE: ‘Taking our future away’: Ontario students criticize Ford’s plan to cut OSAP grants

Other students say that the incoming OSAP changes puts them in a state of anxiety, stemming from the idea that they will leave school with a high amount of debt, in the current “saturated job market,” and not know how they would pay off the accruing interest.

To top it off, the province lifted the seven year tuition freeze, allowing schools to increase tuition fees by up to 2 per cent annually for the next three years. After that, the increase could align with inflation.

“With the tuition freeze was in place, you could go to university or college and not risk having to pay more each year, but now that’s gone, as well as you might have to pay more with OSAP,” said Plavins. “And when you graduate, you’re going to be in a larger cycle of debt.”

The McMaster Students Union launched a letter-writing campaign and are encouraging students to write to their MPPs, the minister of education, and the premier to explain how these changes will impact their future.

WATCH MORE: Ontario boosting post-secondary funding, lifting tuition freeze, altering OSAP loans