By Kristina Roic
Anyone reading the newspapers these days would think that Bob Rae is the Mother Teresa of post-secondary education.
While the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and government officials applaud his recommendations to invest more money into post-secondary education, the harsh consequences this will have on students and parents who pay tuition fees seem to have slipped through the cracks of the Rae bandwagon.
Let’s not forget that during Rae’s tenure as Ontario premier, tuition fees increased by 57 per cent. He also eliminated the grant program for low-income students.
Now, as Advisor to the Premier and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Rae wants to inject at least $1.3 billion of provincial cash into the post-secondary education system by 2007-08.
This seems fair as Ontario’s post-secondary system, with 18 universities and 24 community colleges, receives the lowest per-student funding in the country. But Rae wants a minimum of $200 million to be generated in additional tuition fee revenue, and he wants to lift the tuition freeze to do it.
Premier Dalton McGuinty, who has embraced Rae’s recommendations to allow colleges and universities the flexibility to set their own tuition fees, has been quoted as saying that fees should “no doubt” increase by 2006.
At $4,960, Ontario’s undergraduate students already pay the second-highest tuition fees in the country, just behind Nova Scotia.
Although Rae and McGuinty have both said the tuition hike will be “modest,” the reluctance to establish a cap suggests the sky is the limit.
Jesse Greener, Ontario chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, says that the Rae review is just a “sugar-coated” way of sucking more money out of the students.
“Essentially, when people look closely at the recommendations they will see the wheels come off Rae’s PR very quickly,” he says.
Rae contends that higher fees will be balanced by his recommendations for a $300-million overhaul of student assistance programs, including up-front grants (the ones he got rid of) for low-income students.
Statistics Canada cites $36,247 as the low-income family cut-off for a family of four living in an urban centre. In short, students whose parents make more than that amount are considered middle-class and thus ineligible for a grant.
“Rae says that the rich need to pay more to subsidize the poor, but the public will be shocked to know that Rae considers families with incomes over $36,000 as rich,” says Greener.
So while this is great news for low-income students, there will be no grant money available to middle-income students who make up the bulk of the student population. They will still have access to loans, but with higher tuition fees their debts will only get fatter.
Low-income student Vu Ha, 25, says the government makes it hard for students to get an education. He attended University of Ottawa for two years and is now completing his third year at Algonquin College. Ha’s current debt is more than $30,000.
“I find it extremely aggravating that Rae got rid of the grant program before and now wants to bring it back,” he says.
“If that grant had been around five years ago when I needed it, I wouldn’t have this debt. Because of him there has been 10 to 15 years of students with increased debt.
Universities and colleges are not education-based anymore, they’re all businesses.”
Last year, Ha had to go down to part-time status in order to work more and pay for his education and living costs. He is currently taking two courses and working 40 hours a week to make ends meet.
“I pay roughly $300 a month for student loans,” says Ha. “That’s like having another rent. I could lease a BMW for less money!”
Middle-class parents helping their children with tuition costs are equally upset. Moira Moriarity, wife and mother of three kids, says the government does not leave many options for middle-income families.
“I have two sons in university right now and it’s very tough even with what we’re paying now,” says Moriarity.
“I can’t even imagine what it’s like for parents who are just above that low-income mark.There is no way that a single mother who makes $38,000 a year can afford to send her child to school.”
Currently, seven to 10 per cent of students across universities in Canada are low-income, 80% are middle-income, and the rest are high-income.
As Greener points out, “the grants will service only a sliver of the student population, and the rest will be faced with higher tuition fees and more debt.”
“It shouldn’t be a luxury to have an education,” says Moriarity.
“By doing this the government is creating an elitist group that can literally buy their way into the system.
So are we getting the best of the best or just students that can buy their way in? The government is great for telling us what we need, but never asking us what we want.”