Student Financial Aid

Financial Assistance is Available to Those Who Qualify

Centre for Distance Education is registered as a Private Career College under the Private Career Colleges Regulations Act. Therefore, students may qualify for financial aid & assistance through local student financial assistance programs.

You must contact your local student aid office to find out whether you qualify. There are also other plans under which you may qualify for assistance. If you have any questions or concerns regarding funding, please contact an Education Consultant. We will be happy to help you over any funding hurdles you might encounter.

How to Apply for Financial Assistance

If you are applying for a Canada Student Loan, it is simple to do so online. However, it is important that you contact a Student Financial Officer first.

A Student Financial Officer can tell you which documents you will have to gather up; they also have school-related information necessary to complete the student loan application. It can be a complicated procedure but our experienced staff will break it down and walk you through the process easily.

In fact, one of our Student Financial Officers will assist you via phone while you complete the application online for a worry-free student loan application.

After the application has been submitted, your Student Financial Officer does follow-ups with you to help you facilitate the processing of the application, which can take several weeks. Each week you will hear from your Student Finance Officer, so you will be able to ask questions about the process and get advice about what to do next.

To begin the Canada Student Loan application process, please phone the Financial Aid Office at 1.866.729.2299

Funding Options

Did you know that you are not obligated to get a student loan in order to get an education? Some of the funding options we can help you look into include:

• Look into Funding Programs with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)
• Talk to your bank about a Student Line of Credit:
  • Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
  • Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Canada Trust)
  • Bank of Montreal (BMO)
  • Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
  • National Bank of Canada (NBC)
  • Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
• Pay with a Personal or Corporate Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
• Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD)
• Talk to your province’s Worker’s Compensation Board if appropriate.
• Speak to your local Native Council or Aboriginal Education Directorate.
• Corporate Sponsorship is a possibility if you are already working in the field – speak to your boss!
• Personal Financing – use your savings and pay with cash.
• Talk to your parents. Did they invest in a Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP) for you?
• The Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) allows you to withdraw amounts from RRSPs to finance training or education for you or your spouse or common-law partner.

Of course, you may negotiate funding terms through the financial institution of your choice. Please feel free to call us regarding finance options at 1.866.729.2299.

Tax Benefits

Since the Centre for Distance Education’s programs consist of tuition, course material and study guides, and because the computer hardware and software are necessary to complete the courses, there may be some tax benefits available to you as an individual or as a business owner, depending on your personal tax situation.

Your T2202a will be sent to you automatically at tax time.

We recommend consulting with your own financial counselor to determine the optimum tax benefit.

Student Loan Repayment

You begin repaying your student loan debt six months after you graduate or stop attending school on a full-time basis; however, interest accumulates during this six month period. You are not required to make loan payments while you are studying full-time and interest will not accumulate.

For more information on loan repayment, please visit CanLearn.

Debt Reduction

It’s possible you will experience difficulties in repaying your student loan; therefore, the federal government has set up several options for repayment assistance, which can help you pay back what you can reasonably afford or possibly have the full amount forgiven.

For more information on student loan Repayment Assistance Options, please visit CanLearn.

If you have a Canada Student Loan, you may be eligible for federal Debt Reduction in Repayment Reduction (DRR), a debt management measure designed to help you manage the repayment of your Student Loan(s) if you have long-term financial difficulties.

DRR lowers the principal amount of your loan and reduces your monthly loan payment to an affordable level based on your family income.

In addition to the programs offered by the Government of Canada, provinces and territories provide their students with provincial/territorial repayment assistance, which may vary.

To discuss your eligibility, please contact:

• National Student Loans Service Centre
  P.O. Box 4030
  Mississauga L5A 4M4
• Toll Free: 1-888-815-4514 (within North America)
• TTY (for the hearing impaired): 1-888-815-4556
• Pre-Consolidation Contact Number: 1-866-303-3503
• Countries outside of North America: dial international access code, followed by 800 2 225-2501 (toll free)