Your obligations as a Student Assistance borrower

When you apply for government funding to pay for school, you agree to certain terms and conditions.

The Master Student Financial Assistance Agreement is your legal agreement to borrow, use and repay loan and grant funding from Employment and Social Development Canada, which delivers the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program.

When you click “agree” on the terms and conditions page while completing your student loan application, you form a legal agreement with the Province of Nova Scotia to borrow, use and repay NS Student Loans and Grants.

To remain eligible for Student Assistance programs, you must:

• keep your enrollment information accurate and current (this includes your course load and your school program). You cannot receive funding when the enrollment details in your Student Assistance file don’t match your school’s record of your courses and program
• notify Student Assistance if you withdraw from study
• keep your bank information current

  You submit bank information separately to both the National Student Loan Service Centre, Resolve and the Nova Scotia Student Assistance office to protect your privacy. You need to update both if your bank information changes.

• keep your contact information up to date with NS Student Assistance, Resolve and NSLSC.
• keep your costs and resources information current

  You need to let the Student Assistance office know of any changes in your income, your family income, your course load or your address. Incorrect or outdated information can result in overawards, processing delays or auditing of your file.

• meet the satisfactory scholastic standard by successfully complete 60% of a full course load each year (40% for students with disabilities)

  If you fail to meet this criteria, you will be placed on probation (warning) for the purposes of borrowing anymore money. The second time this happens you will be suspended from receiving student loans or grants for 12 consecutive months. A third time and you will be suspended from our programs for 36 months.

• monitor your student assistance file on MyPATH, respond to emails from Student Assistance and letters, keep your mailing address current and know your deadlines. Incomplete applications can’t be processed and funding cannot be issued after deadlines have passed
• maintain your interest-free status

  If you will be attending school full-time but not using student assistance this year, you must let Student Assistance know that you are still a full-time student. If you don’t, the team will assume you have left school and your file will be processed as though you are about to start repaying your loans. This could mean you are assessed interest on your loan(s).

  If you return to school full-time after being away for awhile, you can stop interest charges and stop making payments on any government student loans that you already have. You don’t have to apply for or receive a new student loan; you just have to notify Student Assistance you’re a full-time student again. Here’s how:

  • login to your secure National Student Loan Service Center online account to submit a Confirmation of Enrolment request. This is the fastest and most efficient method
  • if you are unable to submit your request online, print and complete the Schedule 2 (Confirmation of Enrollment) form (PDF) from the forms section of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program webpage. After your school completed their section, forward it to the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC).