The change responds to concerns from students and parents about affordability and the effect the parental contribution policy may have on access to post-secondary education. New applications will be assessed without parental income in early November. Alberta Student Aid will also begin reassessing about 21,000 applications where parental income affected the student aid award. Most reassessments will require staff review.
“Being accountable means listening to people, looking at how a decision affects them, and being willing to change course. Students and families told us this approach was adding to the cost-of-living pressures they already face. We listened, and we are taking action to ease that pressure and better support students and their families.”
Students do not need to reapply or provide more documents. Alberta Student Aid will notify students who qualify for additional provincial loan funding and direct them to their Alberta Student Aid portal for details. The change applies only to parental income. All other Alberta Student Aid eligibility requirements remain unchanged. Removing parental income means a student’s provincial aid calculation will no longer assume their parents can contribute a set amount toward education and living costs.
Quick facts
- About 126,000 full-time applications for the 2026-27 academic year were submitted from June 3 to Oct. 14, 2026, compared with about 125,000 during the same period in 2025.
- Removing parental income is expected to result in about $118 million in additional Alberta student loan disbursements in 2026-27.
- The 2026-27 budget for Alberta student loan disbursements is $887 million.
- The additional loan disbursements will be accommodated within the existing student loan disbursement budget.
- Alberta Student Aid provides loans and grants to eligible post-secondary students. Its needs assessment compares eligible education and living costs with the financial resources available to a student.