I was only able to attend university because of the Ontario Student Assistance Program. Without non-repayable financial aid, post-secondary education would not have been financially possible for me.
Grants did more than reduce tuition; they made higher education feel attainable instead of risky. They reduced the stress of imagining years of repayment and felt like validation, an acknowledgement that my hard work and ambition were worth investing in.
That’s why Ontario’s recent changes to the OSAP feel significant. Starting this fall, the maximum portion of aid that eligible students can receive in the form of grants will decrease to 25 per cent from 85 per cent. A much larger share of funding will now come in the form of loans that must eventually be repaid.
The province has framed the shift as a way to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector. And sustainability matters. Colleges and universities need stable funding to continue operating and serving students. But as funding structures change, so does the financial reality students face.
The College Student Alliance says it understands the need for sustainability, but warns that affordability cannot be sidelined.
“Students understand the need for sustainability, but affordability must remain the priority,” said Bella Fischer, president of the College Student Alliance. “When financial aid shifts towards more loans and fewer grants, the students carry the burden for years after graduation.”
That burden is not abstract.
For many students across Ontario, post-secondary education is already a careful financial balancing act. Tuition is only one cost. Rent continues to rise. Groceries are more expensive. Transit adds up. Many students work part-time or full-time while trying to maintain academic standing. Grants are not extra spending money. For some, they are what make enrolment possible in the first place.
“The biggest impact that the students would notice is the higher debt after graduation,” Fischer said. “For many students, especially those who come from low-income backgrounds or mature students even, grants are what's making post-secondary education possible.”
Higher debt can shape decisions long after graduation. It can delay saving, relocating, starting a family or pursuing further education. It can also influence whether students decide to enroll at all.
Fischer says students are already expressing concern.
“Some students are already emailing us, very concerned,” she said. “With the high increase in the percentage of loans, that is really stressing the students out now.”
Some students are going to “rethink coming to college at all,” Fischer said.
That possibility is what resonates most with me.
As someone who once hoped to pursue further education, I now find myself reconsidering what that path would look like financially. Additional schooling would likely mean the additional burden of loans. What once felt like a natural academic progression now feels like a more difficult financial decision.
Financial aid policies shape who feels confident applying to college and who hesitates. When assistance leans more heavily on loans, the risk associated with education increases, particularly for students who do not have family financial support to fall back on.
Many students today are entering adulthood in an era where home ownership feels unattainable, and the cost of living continues to rise. Adding more debt does not just affect graduation day; it shapes credit scores, savings plans and the timeline for financial independence. If education is meant to improve economic mobility, policies that increase debt risk undermine that very goal.
Students understand that systems must be sustainable. But sustainability should not come at the expense of students who are already burdened by rising living costs, housing instability and economic uncertainty.
Millennials and Gen Z students are entering adulthood during a housing crisis, high youth unemployment and persistent inflation. Adding more debt to that equation does not simply make education more expensive.
This move by the Ontario government makes the future feel more precarious.
Education has long been positioned as a pathway to opportunity and upward mobility. Grants help level the starting line. When that balance shifts dramatically, the question becomes not whether students can take loans, but whether they feel safe doing so.
Grants opened the door for me. But as those doors close, it is worth asking who might quietly decide that the risk is simply too high, and what that means for the future of Ontario’s colleges.
