AMS External Policy Manual - Alma Mater Society of UBC

Policy Number:2011-04 Passed:Title:Improving Student Loan ProgramJuly 20, 2011Expires:July 20, 2014Summary:Mandates the AMS to advocate the following with respect to improving the student loan program:a) Excluding non-liquid and necessary assets from calculations;b) Reducing interest charged on loans to prime borrowing rate;c) Extending interest-free grace period to 12 months;d) Extend eligibility to part-time students or on internships;e) Increasing and indexing loans to reflect costs of living.Whereas Student Loan Eligibility Requirements prevent accessibility of post-secondary education bypopulations in need due to their holding of additional assets, which are assumed to be liquid, thoughoften are not;Whereas BC has the highest student loan interest rate in Canada, though BC has one of the best creditratings and other provinces have been striving to eliminate interest rates on student loans entirely;Whereas a 6-month grace period to pay back student loans is often an insufficient amount of time inwhich to find gainful employment;Whereas interest is accumulated on the 6-month grace period meaning that in actuality once a student isnot considered a full time university student interest starts to accumulate;Whereas it is now encouraged and increasingly expected for students to gain work experience throughinternships and other work opportunities and so many students are away from school for extendedperiods of time, or taking part time studies, in order to gain these opportunities and the Student LoanProgram often considers these students as having left school and their interest begins to accrue, eventhough these students are not finished school and will be returning to classes; andWhereas the amount of money distributed through the Student Loan Program has not increased withinflation and is not enough to cover the cost of living. This makes many students on the Student LoanProgram have to focus on covering the deficit between the amount the loan gives out and the actual costof living making these students unable to focus on their studies or their postsecondary experience;Be it resolved that the AMS of University of British Columbia, Vancouver lobby for a full review ofeligibility requirements in order to eliminate the inclusion of non-liquid and necessary assets in loancalculations;Be it further resolved that the AMS of University of British Columbia, Vancouver lobby for the reduction ofthe student loan interest rate to the prime borrowing rate;Be it further resolved that the AMS of University of British Columbia, Vancouver lobby for an increase inthe grace period from 6 months to 12 months, and that the 12-month grace period is interest-free;AMS Policy Manual Page | 9