Cost of education climbs
Posted Sep 12, 2010 07:33:38 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canadian students and families are bearing an increasing share of the costs of their post-secondary education. According to a study done by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, more than 43 per cent of education spending in this country comes from private sources, primarily tuition fees.
“Although we have a system that is largely public, it relies significantly on private — namely family — contributions to education costs,” Hugh MacKenzie tells 570’s Gary Doyle Show.
The economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says that makes the Canadian system unique in the international context.
“What’s going on in the Canadian system is that, in effect, tuition and fees for post-secondary education are functioning as a kind of a tax,” MacKenzie asserts.
The report by the OECD closely follows the revelation that Canada’s federal student loan program is close to hitting its $15-billion ceiling years ahead of schedule, yet another indication both of the rising price tag of a post-secondary education and increasing enrolment levels.
MacKenzie says this is making a post-secondary education a real barrier for a lot of working class families who see the addition of a massive debt as opposed to the benefits the degree or diploma will bring. Statistics from the OECD show that the average college or university graduate will earn 2-3 times the amount of money they put into acquiring the education.
MacKenzie suggests a freeze on tuitions and fees and the introduction of more grants into the student support system as first steps towards a fix.
“I would advocate strongly starting to make incremental changes that shift more towards public support for post-secondary institutions and away from the extent to which we rely on students and their families to pay for post-secondary education,” says MacKenzie.
The federal government has injected more money into the system over the past four years, making it easier for students to take out loans and implementing $350-million worth of grants to students. Ontario’s provincial government has also implemented the Reaching Higher program that will pour $6.2-billion into post-secondary education over five years.
