Students who attend Ryerson’s new law school when it opens next year will be eligible for OSAP — but the provincial government still won’t provide the university with any extra funding for the program.

Instead, Ryerson will cover the cost of the 150 students it accepts each year into its law school through existing government funding for operations.

Tuition has also now been set at $21,100 a year — far less than the $33,040 charged by the University of Toronto law school, and lower than York’s $24,800.

The provincial government’s initial position was no support, and no OSAP — or student aid — for the law school attendees, Ryerson President Mohamed Lachemi said in an interview.

“However, through conversation with them, and a lot of dialogue, we resubmitted our application to show it would not cost them extra money,” he said.

Instead, Ryerson will “manage our level of enrolment in all our different programs,” he said, meaning other faculties might lose a few spots.

Though with about 10,000 students accepted into Ryerson each year, “nobody will notice,” he added.

Scott Ramsay, spokesperson for Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Ross Romano, said that “following an assessment of the revisions Ryerson University made to their Juris Doctor program, the (ministry) approved the program on August 15, 2019.”

While “ministry program approval provides operating grant funding eligibility and program OSAP eligibility ... There is no incremental operating grant funding or other support being provided for this program,” he added.

Both the Ford government, and the previous Liberal government, were adamant that Ryerson come up with an alternative to the traditional articling requirement, given so many current law students struggle to find placements working under qualified lawyers.

“People are really struggling to find a placement for articling,” Lachemi said, adding Ryerson worked with the law societies to solve the problem via in-year school placements.

Ryerson first revealed plans for the law school in 2016, which were later approved by the senate. The innovative program includes a focus on hands-on learning, financial literacy, equity and access to justice — including running community legal clinics — and mentorships.

In 2018, the Ford government said it would not provide any operating funding for Ryerson’s law school, nor would it allow the students to be approved for financial aid.

Ryerson, however, persevered, and Lachemi credited the provincial government for “challenging us.”

“You cannot innovate if you don’t challenge the status quo,” he said. “From the beginning, we wanted to have a different type of school, a different education for lawyers ... We love to be challenged and we love to find solutions, and I’m really proud of what the team has done.”

Instead of three years of law school and a year of articling, the Ryerson program will be three years in total, and a semester-long work placement.

“I’m feeling very positive about the experience that we will give to our students,” Lachemi said.

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“It’s been a long journey” working to gain the approvals of various legal societies as well as the government, he said.

A number of big law firms had already pledged funds for scholarships for the juris doctor, or JD, program.

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