By Aaron Mahoney

Student Loans

Lethbridge College to offer student loan workshop

Jun 13, 2019 | 11:27 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge College will be offering a free 90-minute workshop on Wednesday, June 19, to help guide prospective students through applying for a student loan.

This session is for students who have been accepted to a college program this fall, are considering applying or who have had student loans before but still have questions.

The workshop will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and participants will walk through the online student loan application process to the point where they will leave with an estimate of how much financing they qualify for.

Participants should come prepared with these documents:

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– Alberta Student Number

– Social Insurance Number

– Line 150 (gross income) from their 2018 tax return

– If you haven’t already applied to college through the Alberta Post-Secondary Application System (APAS), also known as ApplyAlberta, bring your diploma exam marks from two 30-level high school courses to authenticate your online identity.

Finding out how much financing they qualify for will help students to plan for the months ahead, according to Lethbridge College Student Awards and Funding Manager Linda Sprinkle.

Her No. 1 tip for students is to be proactive.

“They should look at their finances realistically and in detail to understand where they spend their money and, importantly, where they can save. College students have access to student finance experts as well as budgeting and financial literacy help,” Sprinkle said.

Most banks have free online tools to help customers view their expenses by category and seeing how much a daily coffee run affects a student’s bottom line can be a shocker.

“Don’t wait until the money is all gone before you ask for help,” Sprinkle added.

Tip 2: Be realistic. Potential students shouldn’t expect that they can work full-time and succeed as a full-time student. They should have reasonable expectations and set themselves up for success.

Tip 3: Once they are accepted into a program at Lethbridge College, they should check their email regularly. Email is the way organizations like the college and Alberta Student Aid share critical information, including their Master Student Financial Aid Agreement. This document is a contract that must be processed before any funds can be released.

Finally, potential students shouldn’t be ashamed if they’re new to money management and need help.

“A lot of adults don’t understand money and money management,” Sprinkle continued. “As a culture, we don’t feel comfortable talking about it. But we need to talk about money to learn how to manage it.”

Any students or prospective students looking to register for the workshop can do so here: learn.lc/loans-workshop.