FAQ | Students for Student

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Q: What is the Queen's General Bursary?

A: The Queen's Bursary program is a non-repayable grant available to students in all years of study who have a demonstrated financial need. The Queen's General Bursary is a non-repayable grant available to students in all years of study who have a demonstrated financial need.

Essentially, what the general bursary program does is calculate a student's standard costs (tuition, fees, books, supplies, living expenses, groceries, etc.) and their resources (OSAP, other forms of government assistance, etc.) and tries to supplement the difference. It basically works the same as OSAP does.

For example:

*note: the general bursary may not always be able to supplement the differences

The General Bursary program acknowledges that they do not meet all of the needs but if they have a student access guarantee they will have to meet that need

Q: What is the Student Access Guarantee?

A: The Student Access Guarantee is a partnership between Queen’s University and the Government of Ontario to ensure that no qualified Ontario student should be prevented from attending the University because of a lack of financial support.Under the SAG, Queen’s ensures students are able to receive enough aid to cover their educational costs (tuition, compulsory fees, books and supplies) when these are above the usual range of costs covered by OSAP.

The Student Access Guarantee is a partnership between the University and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Students must apply for OSAP to officially determine the level of bursary assistance needed to cover the SAG. All students are required to apply, qualify and fully access their OSAP entitlement for the academic year in order to be eligible for a Queen’s General Bursary

Q: How will donating to the General Bursary help?

A: This is fairly simple. The more funds they get– the more they are able to give! The University receives funds and distributes it throughout the eligible students. Due to the student access guarantee, they must do their best to meet the needs of those students. However, not only are students receiving less money through OSAP, the University is also receiving less money from tuition. The 10% tuition decrease will cost Queen's University $31,400,000. This means there is less money available for the bursary program. Any donation helps. The need of the student will reduce slightly with tuition but increase much more with the OSAP reduction.

Q: So you're telling me Queen's has enough money to build new buildings but they need donations to help support students in financial need?

A: Yes. There is a big misconception that the Queen's administration always gets to choose what they put their donations and funds towards. In fact, most donations are conditional. If someone chooses to donate their money to a specific fund, their donation has to be spent towards what the fund was set up to do. For example, if Mr. Smith donates $10,000,000 for the construction of Mitchel Hall, Queen's cannot spend even a $1 on mental health, or to student assistance.

The fund set up for SFS is for students in need of financial assistance– meaning 100% of it will go towards that– not a cent less.

Q: How much of my donation will go directly to Queen's students?

A: 100% of your donation goes directly to Queen's students. $0 go to administrative costs. The specific bursary program SFS is using goes to Queen's students who are from Ontario.

Q: How many students at Queen's rely on OSAP?

A: We are very fortunate to have the lowest population of students that are reliant on OSAP compared to our total population. By reliant, we mean students whose parents make less than $50,000/year and (formerly) have 100% of their costs covered by OSAP in grants. This means that we are in a much better situation than most schools– we have the ability to help.

*note: many students are still "reliant" on OSAP even if they were not fully covered by it

In addition to students who formerly had their tuition 100% paid by OSAP grants, there are thousands of more students who don't meet the criteria but are still desperately in need of financial assistance (example/ students whose parents do not support them).

Q: I'm a student who needs financial assistance, how do I sign up for the Bursary program?

A: Students can apply on SOLUS. Simply click the red "SOLUS" button in the corner, login, and scroll down to "Finance".

Q: Am I eligible for the general bursary program?

A:The Queen's General Bursary is a need-based meant to supplement, not replace, government student assistance, student and family contribution and, at times, a student line of credit.

Generally, all domestic students (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) are required to apply and qualify for government student assistance with their respective province in order to be considered for General Bursary assistance. Domestic students will be expected to have qualified for a minimum amount of government student assistance ($5,000 for 2 terms of study / $7,000 for 3 terms of study) to be considered for a bursary.

Only in rare circumstances of a student being denied government student assistance as a result of loan default, bankruptcy or overpayment and after every reasonable effort has been made by the student to remedy the situation, will a student be considered for General Bursary without loan funding. It is the student's responsibility to provide proof that they have taken all necessary steps to obtain clearance and have nonetheless been unsuccessful.

If you are unsure about your eligibility, please contact the Student Awards Office at bursary@queensu.ca