P.E.I. STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 P.E.I. STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT

2

3 P.E.I. Student Financial Assistance Corporation Background The Province of Prince Edward Island implemented a student loan program at the beginning of the 1994/1995 academic year. Since that time, the Program has gone through a number of major changes, particularly from an administrative perspective. From 1994 to 2000 provincial student loans (after being assessed by SFS) were issued and administered by CIBC, Royal Bank, National Bank and PEI Credit Unions. From provincial student loans were issued and administered by PEI Credit Unions. Under this formal agreement, the province paid the interest on loans (Prime less.6%) while students were enrolled full-time. In 2010 the Credit Union formally notified the province that it would no longer deliver provincial student loans. Following a Request for Proposal process Davis & Henderson (D&H) operating as Edulinx PEI entered into agreement with the province of PEI as a third party service provider for student financial assistance. The province created a new Student Financial Assistance Act effective January 1, Within the new legislation the PEI Student Financial Assistance Corporation was created. The student loan portfolio was purchased from the PEI Credit Unions by the Corporation and transferred to Edulinx for administration. The province, through Post Secondary and Continuing Education Division of the department of Workforce and Advanced Learning, continues to be responsible for determining eligibility and the amount and type of assistance provided to individual students. The Crown Corporation was created by the province to transfer the loan advances and to receive loan payments. In October, 2012 the Province of Prince Edward Island adjusted provincial student loans to a zero percent interest rate. At the time of implementation, the savings on the average student loan in the first year of repayment was approximately $1,000. The only other provinces to offer interest-free provincial student loans are Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador had interest-free provincial loans for but replaced their provincial loans with grants in the summer of Operationally, the Student Financial Assistance Corporation borrows from Provincial Treasury to fund the loans and receives the loan payments through fund accounts set up with D&H. Since the Corporation s inception, it has never had to increase the amount borrowed from Provincial Treasury. The Corporation is also responsible for the administration and distribution of various provincial grants for students attending post secondary education. These include the George Coles Bursary, George Coles

4 Graduate Bursary, Island Student Award, Island Skills Award, Community Service Bursary, and Debt Reduction Grants. Beginning in , these grants were distributed through the Corporation. The assessment work on all grants and loans for were performed by staff in the Student Financial Services division of the Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning. Subsequent to year end, the Student Financial Services division became part of the Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning. The federal government funds its own portfolio of loans and grants on PEI. The federal government offers student loans and a suite of seven grants aimed at increasing affordability amongst underrepresented groups. Federal loans and grants for PEI students are administered by the PEI Student Financial Assistance Corporation. The affairs of the Corporation were managed by a Board of Directors responsible to the Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning. The Board of Directors as of March 31, 2015 included: o Deputy Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning, Chair; o Deputy Minister of Finance, Energy and Municipal Affairs; and o Deputy Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. In , the Province of PEI reorganized its Provincial government departments. From this reorganization, the affairs of the Corporation and the Board of Directors will be responsible to the Minister of Workforce and Advanced Learning. The Board of Directors will consist of the following: o Deputy Minister of Workforce and Advanced Learning, Chair; o Deputy Minister of Finance; and o Deputy Minister of Education, Early Learning and Culture.

5 2014/2015 Highlights The PEI Student Financial Assistance Corporation is responsible for administering 15 federal and provincial loan and grant programs. The disbursements for those programs are as follows: Federal Programs Provincial Programs 2014/ /14 Program # of # of $ Disbursed Students Students $ Disbursed Federal Student Loans 2,989 $ 18,736,740 3,325 $ 20,729,162 Canada Student Grants 2,105 3,439,759 2,312 3,759,470 Provincial Student Loans 1,275 5,217,859 1,362 5,735,816 George Coles Bursary 817 1,788, ,739,200 George Coles Grad Bursary , ,000 Island Student Award , ,000 Island Skills Award , ,000 Community Service Bursary , ,475 Debt Reduction 299 1,247, ,316,838 Through continued efforts by Provincial and Federal Governments, current debt loads on students have stabilized and even decreased over the past decade. This is due to many initiatives including tuition freezes and caps, increased grant amounts, interest-free loans, RESP contributions, and debt reduction programs. The effects of these programs are visible in the loan disbursement history: Annual Disbursement of Student Loans Type 2007/ / / / / / / /2015 Provincial 7,175,907 6,755,738 5,651,156 5,463,750 5,445,234 5,873,071 5,735,816 5,217,859 Federal 22,356,697 21,884,931 21,134,941 21,292,982 20,972,387 21,511,977 20,729,162 18,736,740 Only the provincial student loans are captured within the P.E.I. Student Financial Assistance Corporation. The loans are labeled as Class A for those students who are either currently attending school or have attended within 6 months, and Class B for those students who are currently in repayment. The balances at year-end are: 2014/ /14 Type # of Loans $ of Loans # of Loans $ of Loans Class A 1,685 $ 13,227,888 1,820 $ 13,345,124 Class B 2,986 $ 13,462,112 2,930 $ 13,366,885

6 Of all provincial loans disbursed during the year, nearly 60% were for students attending institutions on Prince Edward Island. As with prior years the two most frequent institutions were UPEI and Holland College by a wide margin. A breakdown of the most frequent institutions is below: Frequency Institution 2014/ /14 University of Prince Edward Island 31.7% 32.8% Holland College 22.5% 22.3% Dalhousie 7.5% 6.4% University of New Brunswick 5.8% 5.5% Eastern College 1.6% 2.9% Many trends are also evident with the examination of programs being studied. These trends appear to be consistent with those seen across the country. Bachelor of Arts and Science are by far the most popular choices, but specializations and Masters and PhD studies are becoming more prevalent. The most common programs of study are: Frequency Program 2014/ /14 Bachelor - Arts/Science 36.6% 36.3% Diploma - Admin/Business 8.6% 9.3% Diploma - Trades 7.8% 7.0% Bachelor Health/Science 6.8% 6.7% Bachelor Admin/Business 6.8% 6.4% Other Highlights Average values of Class A & B loans at year-end was $7,850 & $4,508, respectively; D&H answered 8,301 phone calls, offered 8,485 phone calls, had 6,819 successful web logins, and mailed out 15,612 documents to students; 32,683 payments totaling $2,989,245 were made on existing provincial student loans; Delinquency rates were down during the year to 13.7% from 15.3% in the prior year; 180 defaulted loans returned to government from D&H, with a total value of $1,154,511.

7 Appendix A

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20