Governments are really keen on planning as a way to improve access to education. “If only people would plan more,” goes the refrain, “people would be able to explore more options, make better financial decisions, etc., etc.” True as far as it goes; so why are governments themselves the biggest culprits in impeding good financial planning?

Say you’re a student in grade 12 deciding where to go to school next year. You’d probably like to know how your choice of institution and your decision to stay at home vs. going away will affect your aid eligibility. But despite the fact that some schools require you to apply in January, in most provinces the earliest you can apply for student aid is March (occasionally February).

Helpful, huh? Plan, plan, plan, guys – but we refuse to tell you anything about how much student aid you might receive until after you’ve made your key decision.

I’ve raised this point with student aid officials a few times over the past few years, and the response I get tends to be glassy-eyed looks as they try to imagine re-jigging the entire administrative process.

“We couldn’t do that,” they say. “Institutions only set their tuition fees for the following year in February or March” (this matters because systems currently require tuition as an input in the need assessment calculation).

“So call it an interim calculation,” I say, “and tell them that if tuition rises they can expect a bit more. Nobody ever got mad because student aid gave them more than their initial assessment.”

“But we don’t get our own budget until March. What if there’s a deficit and the government wants cuts?”

“Trickier,” I say. “But the Americans have successfully managed to deal with that problem for the last 40 years – just make sure any cuts kick in 12 months down the road. “

“That’s up to politicians, not us,” they say (not unreasonably), and then shift the conversation to other topics.

Canada is – slowly – getting better at the mechanics of student aid. In most (but not all) provinces, the electronic enrolment confirmation seems to be rolling out reasonably well, as is federal-provincial loan harmonization/integration. But on the issue of need assessment timing, we just can’t seem to get past the idea that programs should be run for the convenience of governments rather than the needs of students. If American students can get their need assessment done 12 months in advance, there’s no reason other than a lack of imagination why ours shouldn’t be able to as well.

After all, if we’re going to hector students about financial planning, the least we could do is actually give them the information they most need.