Recent changes to Alberta’s student loan program could be problematic for many students in the province, advocates say.
For the upcoming academic year, Alberta Student Aid recipients will have to contribute double the previous minimum — $3,000 per loan year, up from $1,500.
Parental and spousal income will also be assessed when determining eligibility for student loans this year.
“What this brings to students is really another added financial barrier into their academics,” said Students’ Association of Mount Royal University (MRU) president Noel Ormita.
Ormita said the doubled student minimum contribution amount could be particularly impactful to students by forcing them to work longer hours or take out high-interest loans.
“What we’ve seen is that student debt is is one of the biggest issues for students here at MRU,” he said, pointing to students’ union membership survey results.
Ormita said the province’s move to once again consider parental and spousal income for student loan eligiblity — a requirement it had removed in 2012 — is also a step in the wrong direction.
“It’s working on the assumption that parents and families have set aside finances to help with tuition for students and all these different elements,” said Ormita.
University of Calgary Students’ Union vice-president external Mahad Rzain echoed that sentiment.
“It is definitely problematic within certain relationships, especially if students maybe have wealthy parents, but those parents are maybe unwilling to support the education,” he said.
“This is just adding another barrier for students and quite frankly it makes no sense.”
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Rzain said the changes present “a mental health issue” for many students.
“Students are already stressing enough with exams and other key stressors within their lives, and this is definitely going to be a key stressor,” he said. “They have to just work harder now to combat rising costs, inflation, the economic reality of these times.”
Ormita said the “financial barrier” created by these changes is an added struggle for students facing challenges like rising tuition — up two per cent for domestic undergraduate students at MRU and the University of Calgary — as well as high youth unemployment rates and an increased cost of living.
“The financial aid students receive, yes, a majority of it goes to tuition, but there’s also those living costs that are considered when students are financing their academic year,” he said, including textbooks and putting food on the table.
“Those things also come into mind when they’re accessing these loans and different financial aid,” he said. “Tuition is a big element of that, but there’s also those different factors that are really important for students, that affect their mental well-being and physical well-being as well.”
Provincial Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall said in a statement that the “government is committed to keeping post-secondary education affordable and accessible for Albertans.
“That is why Budget 2026 includes more than $1 billion for Alberta Student Aid, with significant increases to non-repayable supports — including nearly $107 million in scholarships and awards and more than $75 million in grants — so students can graduate with less debt,” he said.
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McDougall said the changes to student aid are part of the province’s “modernizing” of financial need assessments “to better reflect students’ real circumstances and bring Alberta in line with the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program and other jurisdictions.”
He pointed out that eligible students can request an exemption from the minimum student contribution.
McDougall said students’ union leaders were informed of the upcoming changes in February, when Budget 2026 was announced.
“We are committed to actively engaging with student leaders, post-secondary institutions, and organizations that support learners, and that work will continue,” he said.
“Our focus is clear: ensuring supports are sustainable, targeted to those who need them most, and responsive to the realities students face today.”
Ricardo Acuna, executive director of the Parkland Institute at the University of Alberta, said only “a very, very small amount” of students will benefit from the province’s increased investment in Alberta Student Aid.
“You have to make an increased financial contribution yourself, so the number of students that’s actually going to fall within that very specific set of guidelines is going to be very small,” he said.
Acuna said financial barriers to post-secondary education could have long-term consequences for the province.
“Anything that keeps students from attending post-secondary and getting that education in Alberta hurts our ability to be innovative, creative, flexible and adjust to what the future is going to bring us,” he said.
“Students will find ways to attend post-secondary in other provinces or in other countries that are much more accessible to them, much more affordable to them,” he said. “And the impact of that is obviously a big brain drain in Alberta.”
A 2025 provincial government report projected enrolment in Alberta post-secondary institutions to increase by 21 per cent by the 2033-34 academic year.
