Financial Need Information

Providing your Financial Need Information

If you are applying for a student loan through your provincial program a Notice of Assessment is the “gold standard” for financial need. As a government agency, your provincial scholarship program obtains permission to access financial information such as your or your parents’ income tax returns, and they have formulas for determining living allowances and other costs.

While Notice of Assessment is the strongest determinant of financial need, it is not an exclusive determinant. To fill out the budget template, calculate what you expect your expenses and income to be for the eight month regular session. For savings, calculate what portion of your savings you expect to use for the application year.

For example:

You have monthly rent of $600. You spend about $200 on groceries on a bi-weekly basis (including things like toothpaste, shampoo, etc). You have a monthly cell phone/cable bill of $75. Your tuition and books for this year are $3,500 and $750 respectively. You are from out-of-town and expect to spend about $300 in fuel to visit home for Christmas and Easter. You go for coffee or dinner with friends a few times a month, spending about $25 on average.

You have $9,000 in savings for the length of your 3-year degree. You work full time every summer and earn about $4,000 after deductions. Your parents have agreed to pay for your books while you’re at BU.

Using this example, your budget template would look like this:

The end result would be a self-declared financial need of $6,200. Note that only 1/3 of the savings was reported, as there is $9,000 that needs to last for 3 years.

Other factors to consider are:

Band or other sponsorship – if your band or another third party is paying the University directly for items like tuition, books and residence, report zero in both the appropriate expenses and income. If, however, you are expected to pay your own tuition and housing and are receiving reimbursement from a band, sponsor, or other source such as Worker’s Compensation, please report the expenses and income separately.

Spouse’s income – when including your spouse’s income, be sure to estimate all of your family’s household expenses as well.