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Students can now complete a 2024-25 OSAP application for full-time students on the OSAP website. We recommend that you complete your OSAP application by June 30, 2024 to ensure you get your funding before your classes begin.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to apply for OSAP, you must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or protected person and meet Ontario’s provincial residency requirements for financial aid. You must also be enrolled in an OSAP approved program that leads to a degree, certificate, or diploma, and meet OSAP’s minimum required course load.
Minimum required course load
You must be taking 60% or more of a full course load to be considered for the full-time student assistance program (Full-time OSAP). This means a minimum course load of 1.5 credits per term for undergraduate students. Graduate students must be designated as a full-time graduate student by the Office of Graduate Studies. If you’re a part-time student, you can view our post on applying for part-time OSAP for the 2024-2025 academic year.
For students with a registered disability, a full-time course load is a minimum of 1.0 credits. The chart below can be used to determine your course load percentage based on the number of credits you’re taking:
| Undergraduate Course Credits per term | Course Load | OSAP funding available |
| 2.0 or more credits | 100% | Full-time |
| Work Term | 100% | Full-time |
| 1.5 credits | 60% | Full-time |
| 1.0 credits | 40% | Part-time, or full-time for students with a permanent disability |
| 0.5 credits | 20% | Part-time |
Important note: If you’re registering for two different course loads during the fall and winter terms then you need to put your fall term course load on your OSAP application and then send us an email. For example, if you’re taking 2.0 credits in the fall and 1.5 credits in the winter, then you need to put a 100% course load on your OSAP application and send us an email letting us know that you’re taking 1.5 credits in the winter.
Application Instructions
Step 1 – Start a new Full-time OSAP application.
Log into your OSAP account and start a new full-time OSAP application.
When you are asked when your classes start, select September 2024 and click next.
Make sure that you include your student number. Not including your student number could mean a delay in processing your OSAP application.
Step 2 – Select your program and study period
Use the program search function to find and select the correct program and study period for your application. Here are some tips to help you find what you are looking for quickly:
- Use all of the optional filters to narrow your search results. Choose September as the month your program starts.
- For your program name, enter a single keyword (or at most two) to identify your major (e.g. “History”, “Aerospace”, or “Art History”, “Political Science”)
- Program year refers to your academic year standing.
Co-op study terms and work terms
If you are in the co-op stream of your program, choose the co-op study term option if you will be registering for a full-time course load. Choose the co-op work term option if you will be completing a work placement. If you will be completing a co-op work placement and taking a class, choose the work term option and send us an email so we can update your application to reflect your additional tuition and fee costs.
Percentage Course Load
Indicate the course load percentage that you will be taking during the academic year. It’s important to note that there is no such thing as an 80% course load during the fall/winter terms. If you’re curious about your course load percentage consult the table below:
| Undergraduate Course Credits per term | Course Load | OSAP funding available |
| 2.0 or more credits | 100% | Full-time |
| Work Term | 100% | Full-time |
| 1.5 credits | 60% | Full-time |
| 1.0 credits | 40% | Part-time, or full-time for students with a permanent disability |
| 0.5 credits | 20% | Part-time |
Step 3 – Complete and submit application
Review your application carefully before you submit it. It is recommended that you submit your application by June 30, 2024. For a full list of deadlines view our dates and deadlines page.
Step 4 – Upload required documentation
You may need to upload documents to support your application. If so, they will be listed on the Print/Upload page of your online OSAP application. When you have them ready, scan them and return to the same page to upload them to your OSAP application. You should aim to get this done before fall classes get underway.
The supporting document deadline is March 17, 2025 for students registered in either fall/winter (two terms) or winter-only (one term) study periods. The supporting document deadline is November 11, 2024 for students registered in the fall-only (one term) study period.
Step 5 – Monitor your application
After you submit your application, monitor your Carleton email account for important messages from the Awards Office. And be sure to log in to your OSAP account regularly to check for unread messages in your OSAP Message Centre.