Before You Apply

Before you apply for a student loan, find out about the eligibility requirements and funding limitations:

• Eligibility requirements
• Living allowances and funding limits
• Calculating financial need
• Parental contribution
• Assessment examples
• What to expect

Eligibility Requirements

Am I Eligible for an Alberta Student Loan?

be a resident of Alberta

prove financial need

be enrolled as a full-time student

NOTE: The definition for full-time studies may vary with each post-secondary institution. Contact your post-secondary institution to determine what is considered a full course load. If you drop to part-time status, you are considered withdrawn, and your loan will be adjusted.

maintain passing grades You must maintain passing grades in at least 60% of a full-course load to meet the minimum academic requirements.

pass a credit check

Am I Eligible for a Loan if Studying Outside Alberta?

Alberta undergraduates have full access to Alberta student assistance programs and benefits when studying outside Alberta but within Canada.

Am I Eligible for a Loan if Studying Outside Canada?

If you are a student studying outside of Canada, you may receive Alberta Student Loan funding if you are:

• Attending medicine, dentistry, law, veterinary medicine, optometry, chiropractic study or pharmacy
• enrolling in a graduate level program
• pursuing an undergraduate program of studies when:
• your program of study is not offered in Canada—requires a copy of the program and/or courses as shown in the institution calendar



• you have received advanced post-secondary credits that enable you to graduate one full semester earlier—requires confirmation of your credit standing and expected graduation date from an Alberta institution AND from the institution you will attend



• you receive a major scholarship that reduces the overall cost of your program--requires confirmation of the amount of your scholarship and the number of years the scholarship may be received



• your spouse or partner is studying outside of Canada and qualifies for provincial assistance under one of these criteria or is enrolled out-of-country in graduate studies, medicine, law, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, chiropractic study or pharmacy.

Important: You will be considered for Canada Student Loan funding only unless you provide the required documentation.

Am I Eligible for a Canada Student Loan?

To be eligible for a Canada Student Loan, you must be a:

• Canadian citizen, or
• permanent resident (landed immigrant), or
• protected person (including convention refugees), as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and
• demonstrate financial need.

Defaulting on Loan Payments

When you default on your student loan, this means you have not made loan repayments according to your formal financial agreement.

If you have defaulted on previous Alberta Student Loans, you will not be eligible for any further Alberta Student Loans unless you:

• make the required outstanding loan repayments
• you bring your interest payments up-to-date.

If you have defaulted on previous Canada Student Loans, you will not be eligible for any further Canada Student Loans unless you:

• provide Students Finance with a letter from the Canada Student Loan Program and/or your lending institution authorizing clearance for further funding.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal declaration that you are unable to pay your debts. Bankruptcy affects your eligibility for student loans.

Important Information About Bankruptcy

Under federal bankruptcy legislation, the waiting period before a student loan debt can be discharged from bankruptcy has been reduced to seven (7) years from 10 years and, in the case of exceptional financial hardship, to five (5) years.  This means that payments must continue to be made on your government student loans because they are excluded from your estate.  After seven (7) years have passed from your study end date, you are then eligible to apply to the courts for discharge.  The reduced waiting period applies only to students who have their loans discharged from bankruptcy on or after July 7, 2008. 

There are important differences in bankruptcy policy between the Alberta and Canada Student Loan programs.

Alberta Student Loan Program If you have filed or intend to file for bankruptcy while you are a student, any provincial financial assistance that you may otherwise be eligible for will be cancelled. If you receive a court-ordered discharge from bankruptcy, or if you have paid your Alberta Student Loans in full, you must still wait three (3) years before you are eligible to apply for provincial financial assistance.

• If you have already received Canada Student Loans and have filed or intend to file for bankruptcy and you are continuing your studies, you may:
• receive further Canada Student Loans for a maximum of three (3) years, to complete your current program of study, and
• retain interest-free status for your Canada Student Loans while in study.


• If you have already received Canada Student Loans and have filed or intend to file for bankruptcy and you have been out of school for more than six months, then:
  • if your court ordered discharge from bankruptcy is approved, or if you have paid your Canada Student Loans in full, you must still wait three (3) years before you are eligible to apply for federal financial assistance.