Changes to Student Loans
Alberta Student Aid has made changes to how they assess and approve student loans for the 2026-2027 year.
What has changed?
Alberta Student Aid has made changes to the student loan assessment for dependent students and students with a spouse/common law partner:
- Differences in applications for dependent students versus independent students with a spouse/common law partner: For the 2026-2027 academic year, Alberta Student Loans has changed how it will assess student loans for dependent students and students with a spouse or common law partner. More information about dependent vs. independent status can be found here.
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Dependent students: parental income will now be used to determine how much funding a dependent student can receive via Alberta Student Loan funding. Student loan applications will need to include income information of the dependent student and that of their parent(s) to be assessed for a student loan.
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Independent students with a spouse/common law partner: will need to include income information of their spouse/partner in the application. This required information will be used as a resource in the assessment of the Alberta Student Loan.
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Independent student without a spouse/common law partner: no major changes to the assessment of your student loan applications.
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What does this mean?
These changes create two significant outcomes:
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If you are a dependent student or a student with a spouse/common law partner, you will need to include your parents’ or spouse’s/common law partner’s income on Line 15000 tax return or Notice of Assessment in order to apply and be assessed for a student loan.
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If your parents’ or spouse’s/common law partner’s income is deemed too high, you may be eligible for less student loan funding.
For more details on how much parental income will be calculated, visit the Parental Contribution Calculator. Keep in mind this is only a part of the total assessment. The best way to determine how much funding you are eligible for is to submit an application.
Who can I contact for more information about my loan assessment?
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Your assessment is completed by Alberta Student Aid. We recommend you contact Alberta Student Aid directly if you have questions or concerns about the outcome of your student loan application.
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If, after speaking with Alberta Student Aid, you still have questions about your student loan assessment, please reach out to the Student Service Centre.
What is Line 15000?
- Line 15000 can be found on your tax return of the previous year or Notice of Assessment (issued by Canada Revenue Agency) and will need to be provided via Alberta Student Aid's Income Verification Portal after you submit your loan application.
- All students must provide their Line 15000, even if under the age of 21 or have never earned income.
- If you did not file your taxes, you can estimate what your gross income was for the year and update Alberta Student Aid after you have completed your taxes if there is a discrepancy between your estimate and your actual gross income.
- If you are a dependent student, you will also need to include your parents’ income (the Line 15000) on your student loan application.
- If you have a spouse or common law partner, they will also need to include their Line 15000 in order for your loan to be assessed. You will receive a letter in your Alberta Student Aid inbox with information about how your spouse/common law partner can include the Line 15000 in the Income Verification Portal.
Which parents do I include in my application (dependent students only)?
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All dependent students will need to include Line 15000 of their parents’ Notice of Assessment from the previous tax year. This includes natural parents, step-parents or legal guardians.
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If your parents are divorced or you have one parent, you will need to include the financial information for the parent who is the main financial provider.
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Circumstances that result in parents refusing to contribute to the costs of their child’s post-secondary education will not be considered a sufficient reason to waive an assessed parental contribution, however, you may be eligible to appeal. Please review additional information below.
What if I don’t receive enough (or any) funding because of my parents' income?
The first step in understanding your student loan assessment decision is to find out more information about why you were denied funding. You can get a good idea of how your parents’ income impacted the amount of loan funding you were assessed for by doing the following:
- Log into your Alberta Student Aid account
- Scroll down to View Applications
- Under the application for 2026/2027 click on the blue drop down menu that says Manage Applications
- From the drop down choose Assessment Details
- You will be able to see how much parental contribution was counted as a resource under the section Study Period Resources -> Parental Contribution
If you have other questions about the assessment of your loan please contact the Student Service Centre
Before starting your post-secondary studies, it may be helpful to have a conversation with your parents about what kind of support you might need from them while you are a student.
If you find out you are being denied funding due to your parents’ income, let your parents know about your student loan assessment to see if they are willing or able to support you considering the student loan is no longer an option. It is important to talk to your parents about finances such as; will you be expected to pay rent while living at home? Do your parents plan to support you financially during school? If yes, what that will look like (i.e., monthly, by term).
Check out other resources to help you talk about money with your parents:
In certain circumstances, you may be able to appeal to have your parents’ or spouse’s/common law partner’s expected/fixed contribution waived. These scenarios include:
- If your parents were to experience significant financial loss such as job loss, reduced income, or retirement.
- If your parents were to experience a short-term financial loss such as drought on farmland.
- If your parents have taken on exception expenses such as:
- Wedding, funeral or legal expenses
- House or vehicle repairs
- If your parents are returning to school
You can see more about that here under Expected Parental Contribution.
Similar to Special Independent Status (see below), if you have a spouse or common law partner who refuses to provide Line 15000 of their Notice of Assessment/previous year’s taxes, you can appeal with documentation to not have their income included. More information can be viewed here.
In both cases, you will need to provide a personal letter along with documentation from a third- party professional to corroborate.
- University of Alberta Career Centre
- Scholarships and awards: University of Alberta Undergraduate Scholarships, University of Alberta Students’ Union Awards
- University of Alberta Bursaries and Emergency Funding
- Credit from a bank (see below)
How to Apply for Special Independent Status (for dependent students only)?
If you have had a significant breakdown in your family you can apply to be considered an independent student. To apply for Special Independent Status, you will need to apply for the student loan and include two additional documents after you have submitted:
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a letter written by yourself describing the breakdown of your family
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a letter from a third party professional that can speak to this breakdown
Additional information about Special Independent Status can be found here.
Maximizing Your RESP
When applying for student aid, both parental income and RESP withdrawals are typically considered available resources for dependent students. However, once a student transitions to independent status, parental income is no longer factored into aid calculations, though remaining RESP funds still are.
Because of how financial aid assessment rules work, the timing and amount of RESP withdrawals can affect loan and grant eligibility from year to year. Students and their families are encouraged to consult with their financial institution, RESP provider or student financial aid office to understand how withdrawal strategies might align with their overall funding plan.
What is a line of credit/student line of credit? And, how does funding from government student loans differ from bank credit?
While the government student loan may seem like a complicated process, it is always better to receive a government student loan over a loan from a bank.
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Why? Government Student Loans are interest free and payment free for as long as you are a full-time student. When you are no longer a full-time student, government loans include a grace period where the loans will continue to remain interest free/payment free. Additionally, you can access loan relief programs if you are not able to make monthly payments. As well, some specializations can receive some loan forgiveness.
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Still considering a bank credit? We encourage you to shop around for the type of bank credit that will work best for you, this will usually be a student line of credit. You are not obligated to stay with the same bank that you use for day-to-day banking. However, be mindful that “no-interest” does not mean there are no fees tied to using bank credit. We also suggest that you confirm how much interest you will be paying once you are no longer a full-time student. You can review the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada as it is an incredible resource for financial information, including how to navigate a student line of credit.
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What about a payday loan? Where possible, avoid payday loans or similar debt as they are generally regarded as predatory and dangerous.