Alberta post-secondary students waiting on aid funding amid record number of applications

Adeline Lavallee had to dip into her savings to make sure she can be on the right track to start her second year for an online social development study program at an Ontario university.

"I'm worried about rent for sure," Lavallee told CBC in an interview about having to use money for housing to pay for tuition. 

"If I don't get [funding] by the end of the month, I'm gonna be in hot water." 

Lavallee is not alone. The province is currently experiencing a backlog of student aid applications due to high demand.

Regardless of whether it's provincial or federal funding students must apply through Alberta Student Aid, which provides loan, grant, and scholarship funding to Alberta's post-secondary students. 

 A spokesperson with Alberta Advanced Education said in a statement that about three per cent of applications are exceeding the 45-day service standard for processing.

About 90 per cent of all applications are currently being processed within 30 days with the majority being completed within 3 days, the spokesperson said, noting there was a record number of applications this year. 

Lavallee said she applied for federal grants and scholarships in mid-July.

"The applications open very late this year, I applied, a couple of days later, and still no word," Lavallee said.

"I'm disabled, I have a dependent and I need these resources to be able to pay for child care, to access any of the resources I need, like learning supports and different forms of textbooks."

Lavallee said she has had a lot of back-and-forth with Alberta Student Aid, which she is concerned is playing a role in her application delay. 

She said at first they asked her for documentation related to her dependent, which she felt was strange, but submitted as requested.

"Called them a couple of weeks ago, and they're like, 'sorry, you just have to wait until two weeks and then try calling again,'" Lavallee said.

A spokesperson said Alberta Advanced Education has introduced quality assurance reviews related to students with dependents, for cases such as when a student's dependent information changes from prior years' applications.

"This additional verification is solely to ensure the validity of the information and the integrity of the system, and does not affect the eligibility of students with dependents," A spokesperson said, adding that there have been no changes to the process with respect to students who are disabled.

Lavallee says her application is the same as it was last year and the province's statement raises questions for her about the process.

The province says additional internal department resources are being allocated to address the application backlog, and Alberta Advanced Education is expecting to meet the service guideline before the end of September.

But for some like Athabasca University student Nin Szot, waiting was not an option and he sought assistance from his MP's office to gain access to the federal funding that he applied for. 

"They were able to get Alberta Student Aid to prioritize my application and my award letters came through," Szot said. 

"Clearly, that can't happen for everyone ... from what I'm told, there are others that are struggling with this as well."

Szot, who is also a single parent with a disability, said the situation was deeply concerning as he was relying on federal grants.

"For somebody on disability, there's always a lot of planning that has to take place. We don't have the ability to just go pick up a job, so if something puts a hole in our budget, it can be a huge challenge," he said. 

"As a parent of children, I can't afford to have these kinds of surprises."