Grand River Post Secondary Education Office - Full Time Educational Allowance

Full Time Education Allowance
To be eligible for education allowance, tutorial assistance and the maximum book allowance—you must be deemed a full time student by your post secondary institution; be taking only courses for credit toward an eligible diploma/degree; and meet the G.R.P.S.E.O.’s minimum course enrolment per four month academic semester.

The G.R.P.S.E.O.’s requirements to qualify as a full time student depend on your level of study as outlined in the following:

Level 1 (college diploma): Registered full time by the institution and taking a minimum of 12 hours of in-class instruction per week per academic semester for the program registered in (labs, tutorials do not count). This course load must be carried throughout the semester.

Level 2 (undergraduate university degree): Registered full time by the institution and enrolled in a minimum of 4 courses at the beginning of a regularly scheduled and required academic semester, followed by continuous study in a minimum of 4 courses in each such semester. Courses must be equivalent to at least half year/credit courses.

Level 3 (masters degree) as defined by the post secondary institution.

Level 4 (doctoral degree) as defined by the post secondary institution.

If you are registered as a full time student by the post secondary institution that you are attending and you meet the G.R.P.S.E.O.’s definition of full time study for each semester, then you are eligible to receive a monthly allowance provided that

(a) you have not reached the limits of assistance for allowance for the level of study and program that you are enrolled in,

(b) you are a continuing successful student and you do not have an overpayment on your file and

(c) you have provided a transcript for previously sponsored courses as well as all required documentation.

The number of months of allowance that you are eligible for depends on a number of factors. For example, it can depend on the registration date for the semester or academic year. The following examples (based on policy provisions) address most students’ questions.

At the end of the academic year, if you are registered as a full time student up until the 15th of the last month of an academic year then you are eligible for a full month’s allowance payment for that last month.

If you are registered as full time until some date prior to the 15th of the last month of attendance and there is at least one full month before the start of the next academic semester, then you are eligible for one half of a month’s allowance payment.

Full monthly allowance payments may be issued whenever the academic semesters that you are registered in run in consecutive months, regardless of pauses in studies.

If you are considered a registered full time student for at least the last six working days of a month, at the start of an academic year, you are eligible for half a month’s allowance payment for that month.

If your official registration is prior to the 15th of the first month of the academic year, then you are eligible for a full month’s allowance payment for that month.

You must maintain your eligibility as a full time student as defined by the post secondary institution that you are attending and the G.R.P.S.E.O.’s minimum course enrolment for each semester to maintain your eligibility for a monthly allowance payment. Any allowance payments received without meeting these conditions will be established as an overpayment on your file and will affect your future eligibility for education assistance.

Education allowance assistance is provided to eligible full time students enrolled in eligible programs for the purpose of completing one diploma or degree at each of the four levels of post secondary study.

Effective September 2009: New applications for part time (special cohort/unique program structured/module format) programs will no longer be eligible to received pro-rated education allowance.

The four levels of post secondary study are as follows:

Level 1 - college
Level 2 - undergraduate university degree
NOTE: Level 2 - will include assistance for an additional degree program at the bachelor level; which has an undergraduate degree as a prerequisite
Level 3 - graduate university degree (masters degree)
Level 4 - post graduate degree (doctoral degree)

The limits to education allowance assistance are as follows.

Levels 1 and 2: The duration of Education Allowance for levels I (college) and 2 (undergraduate) is directly linked to the official length of the program as defined by the post secondary institution in which you are enrolled.

For levels one and two (college and undergraduate study), the duration of Education Allowance for any level of post secondary education may be extended as follows:

For students who started a program before Sept 1, 2006, the extension may be up to a maximum of one additional academic year (buffer year) per level if such an extension is approved in writing by the institution's dean or head of the department.

Effective September 1, 2006— for level 1and 2 students starting a program, the maximum extension is one academic semester (buffer semester).

Levels 3 and 4: Effective September 1, 2003 - For levels three and four (masters and PhD study), the duration of Education Allowance for all new applicants for 2003 shall be as follows:

Masters program – three years (36 months)
PhD program – five years (60 months)

The duration of Education Allowance for a student attending an accredited private institution or accredited institution outside of Canada is limited to the completion of one level of post secondary education. G.R.P.S.E.O. limits of assistance for the education level involved, of course apply.

For Levels 1 and 2 students, the maximum eligible extension to education allowance is granted provided:

an extension is approved in writing by the institution’s dean or head of the department.,

you are eligible to continue in your program

there are no outstanding overpayments on your file,

you submit all necessary documentation, and

funds are available for your priority.

For Levels 1 and 2 students, this basic rule of maximum allowance assistance (a rule based on the "official program length plus one academic year [semester effective Sept 1/06]") applies even if you interrupt your study, change levels of study, change your program of student within a level, or have previously completed a portion of the program without education assistance. This additional year/semester of allowance is commonly referred to as the "buffer year/semester.

Say, for example, that you drop out of level 2 studies and get assisted for level 1 study (a college diploma program). The allowance assistance that you received in level 2 will be counted for calculating maximum assistance at level 2 - if and when you continue your level 2 studies.

Here is another example. You switch from a three year diploma program (which is part of level 1) to a two year diploma program (which is also level 1). If you received 3 academic years (24 months) of allowance for the three year diploma you would not be eligible for any allowance assistance for the two year diploma - because - you would have exhausted the maximum number of allowance months at level 1 for the two year diploma program (two academic years plus a “buffer” year or ”buffer” semester after Sept 1/06).

For all students regardless of level:

You can apply (as a Priority 5) for allowance assistance for a second diploma or degree at the same level of study provided that sixty months have lapsed from the last time that you received allowance assistance. Please note that degrees that require an undergraduate degree as a prerequisite are excluded from this sixty month waiting period (for an explanation of what Priority 5 means - see the section on the Priority System., page 40).

Also, if you become eligible for assistance and are already part way through a program that you have funded through other resources - you will be eligible for assistance for the balance of the program plus the applicable extension if required (one academic year/semester).

Finally, education allowance, for the summer semester, is not available unless the summer semester is a mandated and regularly scheduled semester for your program. The post secondary institution sets the program structure for all programs.

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