Ryerson is running out of money in its fund to cover students’ ancillary costs.

 
And money could be taken from the operating budget to cover this, president Sheldon Levy said.

The Student Access Guarantee fund is additional money OSAP students receive from the school to cover other education costs, such as ancillary fees, books, equipment and supplies. They’re required to hold at least a 2.0 GPA to receive funding.

“A number of universities essentially have no money left for the Student Access Guarantee,” Levy said. “Ryerson is about out too. The moment you’re out, you have to go to your operating budget, which would then put more pressure in the operating budget.”

He says the school is fine to cover the cost this year, but next year could be a problem.

During the 2009-10 school year, Ryerson paid $4.3 million to 2,793 students. Ryerson had 9,360 students receiving OSAP and they were given $88.5 million to date. Ryerson must pay out money for students who are charged tuition and ancillary fees above $4,700. The students need to also incur book and supply costs above $1,020. The money is distributed through funds for scholarships, bursaries and work-study.

Levy expects this payout to be even greater in the next school year.

“Tuition fees will go up, we expect, and we’ll be paying part of it, of that increase. And the other one is, more students (are) on OSAP,” Levy said.

He says schools are lobbying together aiming to increase the threshold of when the university starts paying for students. But he doesn’t expect the  province to carry more burden, given its $25-billion deficit.

“Of course, we want the ($4,700) to increase with inflation,” Levy said. “The big issue is to change this number.”

The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities started the Student Access Guarantee in March 2006 to ensure that no qualified student is prevented from attending post-secondary education because of a lack of funds.