PEI Student Loan Debt Reduction Grant

What you will need

• ✓ Debt Reduction Grant Application Form, signed by hand (electronic signatures are not accepted); it includes the Declaration of Prince Edward Island Residency
• ✓ A copy of your degree(s), diploma(s), certificate(s) or unofficial transcript(s)
• ✓ A print-out of your provincially funded student loan balance from Edulinx
• ✓ Send everything to Student Financial Services in Charlottetown (mailed originals are not returned)

About this award

You can get up to $3,500 per academic year in debt reduction to help pay off your provincial student loans. For money you borrowed before August 1, 2018, the grant is $2,000 per year. The grant is paid to Edulinx and applied to the provincial part of your PEI student loan; if your balance is smaller than the grant, Edulinx refunds you the difference. This is for you if you borrowed from the PEI Student Loan Program, earned a degree, diploma or certificate in the last 3 years, are not back in school, and have lived in PEI for at least 6 months since graduating (or since moving back). You must apply within 3 years of your graduation date, and only after you have lived in PEI for 6 months after graduating (or after moving back); applications sent earlier are returned. Grants are awarded four times a year: spring, summer, fall and winter. This is not a competition: the grant is worked out from what you borrowed in provincial loans each year. It cannot be more than you borrowed, and it only covers your program's standard length plus one year (for example, five years for a four-year degree). The grant only reduces the provincially funded part of your loan (administered by Edulinx), not the federal Canada Student Loan. Use the Debt Reduction Grant Worksheet on the program page to estimate your grant.

Who qualifies

You must have borrowed from the PEI Student Loan Program and earned a degree, diploma or certificate within the last 3 years. You must be a PEI resident who has lived in PEI for at least 6 months after your graduation date, or for at least 6 months before you apply if you moved back. Your provincial student loan balance must be more than $100, and you cannot be attending post-secondary studies when you apply.

This is what the award's official page said when we last checked. Rules change, so confirm on the award's official page before you apply.

• ✓ Open to college or undergraduate students
• ✓ Resident of Prince Edward Island

How to apply

1. 1

   Read the award's official page

   Check you meet every requirement, and note each document they ask for.

2. 2

   Order your transcript1–2 weeks

   Your school's registrar can take a week or two.

3. 3

   Check this year's deadline

   We don't have a confirmed date for this round. The award's official page will have it.

Tips for applying

• Loan DocumentationAvoid sending your federal loan statement. Instead, print your provincially funded student loan balance from Edulinx; that is the balance the grant is applied to.
• ResidencyAvoid applying too early. Instead, wait until you have lived in PEI for 6 months after graduating (or after moving back); the application form includes a Declaration of Prince Edward Island Residency, so you do not need other residency papers.
• StrategyAvoid missing the 3-year window. Instead, note your graduation date and apply well within 3 years of it. Sign the form by hand, because electronic signatures are not accepted.
• RealismAvoid assuming this will cover your entire loan balance. Instead, treat this as a helpful supplement to your own repayment plan. Calculate how much of your total debt this reduction will actually remove.

Questions students ask

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