Other Services

Emergency Funding
Food Vouchers/Bus Passes
Book Loans
Tuition Deferrals
Confirmation of Enrollment
Budgeting Information

In addition to responding to inquiries regarding student loans, grants, awards and scholarships, the Student Funding & Awards office provides a number of additional services to students. These include:

Emergency Funding

Resources are available to students who are struggling with their finances because of unanticipated and uncontrollable expenses.

Students should come to the Student Funding & Awards office to inquire/apply for emergency funding. The Student Funding & Awards office will assess each individual situation to determine student eligibility.

Note: Emergency funding for students enrolled in the collaborative programs at RDC will be processed in the same manner, using the above criteria.

Food Vouchers/Bus Passes

The Student Funding & Awards office provides eligible students with food vouchers, bus passes and food bank referrals (through the Student's Association). Students should come to the Student Funding & Awards office to inquire/obtain this type of assistance.

Book Loans

Students who have been approved for funding (ie. Student Loans or a Government Grant) but have not received their money and need to purchase their textbooks may be eligible for a book loan.

Monies are transferred to the student's iCard, which enables students to purchase their textbooks on "credit," and is to be repaid when their funding arrives. This transfer of funds requires 24 hours to process and is only available after the start of classes.

Tuition Deferrals

A tuition deferral allows students to pay their tuition on a specific date after the tuition fee deadline. Tuition deferrals are done at the start of each term and must be done prior to the tuition fee deadline.

Note: Refer to more detailed information and application procedures for tuition deferrals at Tuition Payment from your Student Loan section.

Confirmation of Enrollment

Your Canada student loan(s) and Alberta student loan(s) will remain interest-free as long as you notify your lenders that you are a full-time student.

You have six months from your previous period of studies end date to confirm your enrollment, or you will enter repayment status. For example, if you finish your school year at the end of April, you must provide a Confirmation of Enrollment form to your lenders by the end of October of the same year.

This is especially important for students who have had student loans in the past, are continuing their studies full-time, but are NOT applying for new student loans. If you fail to complete these forms, you will be asked to start repaying your loan, even though you are still a full-time student.

Confirmation of Enrollment forms for government student loans must be completed and signed by the Student Funding & Awards office. Students must present photo ID.

NOTE: Confirmation of Enrollment forms cannot be signed until 30 days prior to the start of the next period of full-time study. For example, students returning to school in September cannot have their Confirmation of Enrollment forms signed until August, at the earliest. These forms can also be signed during the period of full-time study, but not after the end date of study.

This also applies to collaborative students, out-of-province funded students, and apprentices. Please see the Student Funding & Awards office for more information.

If you are uncertain as to which Confirmation of Enrollment forms are required, please contact the Student Funding & Awards office.

Note: It is the student's responsibility to ensure:

1. Confirmation of enrollment forms are completed
2. Previous lender(s) are notified

Loan certificates were negotiated by various lenders, depending on when you received your loan. Please refer to the chart below to determine which lenders impact your specific situation:

LOAN CERTIFICATE

LENDER

Canada Student Loan:

Received/negotiated prior to August, 2000	Various financial institutions, including CIBC, Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia
Received/negotiated after August, 2000	National Student Loan Service Centre           Phone: 1-888-815-4514

Provincial Student Loan:
 

Received/negotiated prior to August, 2001	Various financial institutions, including CIBC, Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia
Received/negotiated after August, 2001	EDULINX Canada Corporation                   Phone: 1-866-827-0310

Budgeting Information

Food and Health

While attending school it is easy to find quick unhealthy meal solutions such as fast food and pre-packaged food. Buying coffee or pop on campus and snacking on chips and chocolate bars are convenient fixes to get through long days. Not only do these foods put a drain on your budget, they lack nutrition and reinforce poor eating habits. Look at the examples below to see how these choices add up over time.

ITEM	DAILY COST	ANNUAL COST (based on 5 times per week)
Chocolate bar or chips	$1.25	$325.00
Coffee or pop	$1.75	$455.00
Fast food lunch	$7.00	$1820.00

One solution to help save money and eat better is to plan ahead with food. Keeping healthy snacks and food around the house curbs the junk food munchies.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Peanut butter on crackers or celery (high in protein and low in sugar)
• Deli lunch meats or cold cuts (convenient to make a quick sandwich on the go)
• Yogurt (buy the large tub and put in small container for single serving size/adding granola makes it a healthier snack)
• Vegetables (cut them up beforehand and place in containers to grab on your way out the door)
• Keep fresh fruit in the house (buy in season to cut costs)
• Whole grain cereal or bagels
• Low fat cream cheese (will stay fresh for a month in the fridge)
• Bulk dried fruit and/or trail mix (snack on this instead of chips and chocolate bars)
• Sugar-free Jello
• Cottage cheese (add fresh fruit)
• Instant oatmeal (great winter breakfast that is ready in a couple minutes/add a chopped apple and/or raisins and cinnamon for variety)
• Hearty chicken or bean-based soups (avoid anything cream or cheese-based)
• Bagged salads (only last a few days so watch that you don't wind up throwing half of it out)
• Air-popped popcorn without butter (use spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, dill, curry powder or seasoning salt to mix it up)
• Drain and rinse canned chick peas, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven until lightly browned and eat as a snack like chips
• Pretzels or rice cakes

Stay away from:

• Artificial fruit juices (all sugar and no nutrients)
• Pizza and greasy fast food
• Mayonnaise and creamy salad dressings (high in fat)
• Soft drinks and alcohol (empty calories)

To help stretch your food budget it is a good idea to shop for groceries weekly and plan your menu beforehand. There are many health conscious recipes that require few ingredients and minimal preparation. Leftovers can be frozen for later meals. Web sites such as allrecipes.com can provide excellent food ideas with few ingredients and time required. Check out the following recipes on allrecipes.com for an excellent starting point: Baked Honey Mustard Chicken, Lemon Pepper Chicken, Ground Beef Shepherd's Pie, Hamburger Soup, Garden Pasta Salad and Easy Mexican Rice.

How Can I Cut My Monthly Living Expenses?

Here are a few ideas on how to save money and make your budget feasible.

• Try out 1 month of long-distance and then look at your bill (who do you call the most and when/if you see a pattern look into different long-distance companies to see if there is a better plan for your needs)
• Check to make sure that you are using all the features you are paying for (house and cell phone)
• Opt for using email for long-distance communication if you find that your phone bill is high
• Do your long-distance calling during the evenings and weekends when it is less expensive
• If you are missing family and friends back home send them a much appreciated letter
• Turn off unused lights and electrical equipment
• Buy energy efficient light bulbs when you have to replace old ones
• Check seals on oven, fridge and freezer as a small gap can be costly
• Clean furnace filters or replace disposable filters monthly during the colder months
• Try to avoid electric heaters as they can cost up to $50 per month to heat one room
• Move furniture 30 cm away from heat registers to maintain airflow during the winter
• Close drapes in the winter when the sun goes down to conserve energy
• Use small portable fans to cool the air in the summer instead of running the furnace fan
• Make door socks to keep out the draft under doors (long socks stuffed with sand or birdseed)
• Use a timer when plugging in your vehicle (a vehicle only needs to be plugged in for 3 hours on the coldest day before starting)
• If you have a dishwasher set it on the shortest cycle and only run it when it is full
• Routinely check toilets, pipes and faucets for costly leaks and repair them (a leaky toilet could cost $10 a month)
• Install water flow reducing devices on taps and showerheads
• Use half the recommended amount of laundry soap for a load
• Instead of using expensive dryer sheets buy a bottle of no name liquid fabric softener and drop a couple of teaspoons of it onto a clean wash cloth or rag and add to the wet clothes in the dryer to soften fabrics and reduce static
• Make your own household cleaners to save money and help the environment (for walls and floors add 1/8 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup laundry soap to a pail of warm water/for sinks, baths, counters and appliances sprinkle vinegar and then baking soda and wipe with a damp cloth/for slow drains pour 1/2 cup boiling water followed by 1/2 cup of baking soda and then half an hour later pour more boiling water down/use rubbing alcohol to shine chrome, remove grass stains and clean the caulking in the bathroom)

Wants Verses Needs

There are many ways and places you can choose to spend your money throughout the school year. Here are a few important questions to consider before making a purchase:

• How does buying this item/service support my educational goal?
• If it doesn't support your educational goal then how important is it to you?
• Are you buying for the lifestyle, feelings, or status associated with the item or service?

If you are having a hard time deciding or justifying a purchase try not to impulse buy. Decide if it is a need or a want. Revisit your budget and determine whether or not you can really afford it. Will it mean something to you 3 days from now? Try waiting 3 days and then decide if it is still something that you want. Another suggestion is to figure out the worth of the item or service. If you earn $10 an hour and a new shirt costs $50, is it is really worth over 5 hours of work to have that shirt?

If you decide to make the purchase can you wait for it to go on sale? Do some comparative shopping to make sure that you are getting the best deal. Can you buy a similar product and not pay for the brand name? Are there special features that you can do without to save money? (Cell phones are an excellent example of this.) What return or exchange policies do the stores offer? If it is a big purchase then do your homework. Compare product warranties. Read up on consumer product ratings in books, magazines and on the web. Informed shopping helps make the most of your money.