Ontario Students Will Soon Be Able to Pay Off Their Debt with Frequent Flier Miles

This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Last week, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) announced its partnership with Higher Ed Points in a new program that will allow students to transfer Aeroplan miles, Air Canada's frequent flyer incentive program, into hard cash towards paying off tuition and other student debt.

The average student debt in Canada is $27,000, according to the Canadian Federation of Students. According to Stats Can, Ontario alone had 302,355 full-time borrowers in 2013, an increase of nearly 100,000 students in less than five years.

Higher Ed points was launched in November 2013, and started with only two schools, in Fredericton and Toronto. The program now has 67 institutions on board, including Student Aid Alberta and now, OSAP.

"We have a public figure of over $100,000 of transfers being made so far," said the program's founder, Suzanne Tyson, who has previously worked for Student Awards, a program that connects students to scholarships.

With many universities and colleges that are now on board missing the beginning of last year's school year, Tyson says that this coming September should be even more successful.

The Higher Ed program works by converting 35,000 Aeroplan miles to $250 that can be used toward tuition, rent, textbooks, meal plans, and even student cards on certain campuses. Anyone can donate their points to a student. So, students are encouraged to ask their parents and grandparents to donate. To put this in perspective, however, you earn about one mile per dollar spent with many plans and participating brands.

That means that it's students with relatives of means who will benefit from the program.

The day that Higher Ed Points announced their partnership with OSAP, the Ontario branch of the CFS put out their own press release—denouncing the government for using the program and once again, calling on the province to reinvest into public post-secondary education to lower student debt. They claim the government is treating the solution to student debt like it's "extreme couponing."

"It seems this is not a real solution, as families who can't afford education, probably can't afford to spend money through their Aeroplan miles either," said Rajean Hoilett, chairperson for the CFS-O. "That is about $3.1 million if you're looking at paying for your entire student debt with Aeroplan points."

The CFS has been advocating for freezing tuition fees and the possibility of free post-secondary education.

Tyson says she knows this is not a solution, but that she made the program to create another currency for people to pay off debt. So far, the organization has shouldered all the costs involved in building the program and the technology involved.

"The rate is set by Aeroplan," said Tyson. "We've had conversations and, based on the economics of their program, I don't really have any influence over what rate they charge."

Tyson says that she would never advise for a student to start using Aeroplan to make use of the Higher Ed Point program, but that this is more suited for adults who have extra points from shopping and flying. She is trying to get other loyalty programs on board such as Air Miles, Scene, and Shoppers Optimum.

"As a private enterprise, as an entrepreneur, and taking two years out of my life and investing a ton of money, it's disheartening that, you know, we're held up as an evil when we're actually here trying to help," she said.

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