2024-2025 Operational Policy & Procedures
Introduction

Overpayments

Reg.: Schedule 2, ss. 13, 14(1)

Overpayments occur when students receive funding for which they are not eligible. Some examples of when reassessments may result in overpayments include:

  • Alberta Student Aid is advised that a student has dropped below full-time registration/withdrawn
  • student reports a change that reduces financial eligibility
  • student did not report accurate information on their application

When an overpayment is identified, undisbursed funds may be cancelled or reduced. Students may be required to repay an overpayment before being approved for additional funding if they withdrew or switched to part-time studies within 30 days of their start date. 

Students are given 30 calendar days to request a review of an overpayment.

Grant Overpayments and Conversion to Direct Loans

Reg.: Schedule 2, ss. 13, 14, 14.2 and 30(8)

A student is considered to have a grant overpayment when they receive grant funding for which they are ineligible.

The full amount of federal and provincial grant is considered an overpayment if the student withdraws from full- or part-time studies within 30 calendar days of the start date of their funded study period.

In all other cases, a calculation is performed and may result in all or part of a grant being considered an overpayment.

Once an overpayment has been calculated a student is given 30 calendar days to request a review of the overpayment through the Review Process.

Alberta Student Aid will determine the current outstanding balances of provincial and federal grant overpayments before converting grants to loans. The amount of the grant overpayment may be reduced prior to conversion (e.g. due to payments from the student).

  • If the current outstanding balance of all provincial grant overpayments is greater than $250, the overpayment(s) will be converted to an Alberta direct loan.

  • If the current outstanding balance of all federal grant overpayments is greater than $250, the overpayment(s) will be converted to a federal loan.

Alberta Student Aid will not actively recover grant overpayments of $250 or less. However, if the student returns to full-time studies and applies for funding, the overpayment of $250 or less will be used as a resource on their application for funding and any student aid awarded may be reduced.

Grant overpayments are converted to loans after the student’s period to submit a request through the Review Process has passed.

Overpayments of the Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment - Students with Disabilities are not converted to a loan. On future applications, the amount of this grant will be reduced by the overpaid amount.

Grant overpayments (provincial or federal) that were calculated prior to 2012-13 were routinely sent through Treasury Board and Finance, Crown Debt Collections, for recovery. Students with these older grant overpayments who wish to return to studies may be required to work with Treasury Board and Finance (or a collection agency to whom Treasury Board and Finance assigned the debt) to rehabilitate the debt.

Loan Overpayments

No extra action is taken for loan overpayments. Each student will repay the loan amount according to the conditions under which it was borrowed. Students may be required to repay an overpayment before being approved for additional funding if they withdrew or switched to part-time studies within 30 days of their start date.