Tuition increase at Ontario colleges and universities capped at 3%
TheStar.com – News/Queen’s Park – Government says it will provide stability over next two years to students, universities and colleges as it transforms way schools are funded.
Dec. 15, 2016. By KRISTIN RUSHOWY, Queen’s Park Bureau
Tuition at Ontario colleges and universities will be allowed to rise an average of 3 per cent each year for the next two years, as the government revamps the way it funds post-secondary institutions.
The tuition fee cap is an extension of the allowed increase currently in place, which the government says provides schools with some stability as they adapt to the coming changes. The government will also implement free tuition for low-income students, starting next fall.
“The number one (impact) is access . . . people across the country and beyond are looking at what we are doing in Ontario on the access side — we are already really, really good, but this takes us to a whole new level where every single person in this province can actually afford to go,” said Deb Matthews, minister of advanced education and skills development.
“. . . Behind access is quality, because we don’t want people going and not getting (the most) out of that experience. Even though on the finance side, we are helping a lot, they are still investing their time, and students deserve to know they are getting the highest quality.”
The government will also take a look at how to make sure post-secondary studies prepare students for the workforce.
In last February’s budget, the government announced students whose families earn less than $50,000 will be given grants equal to or greater than the average tuition, starting next fall. Half of students whose parents earn $83,000 or less will receive more in non-repayable grants than they have to pay in tuition fees.
The government is funding the changes by cancelling the tuition and education tax credits.
Tuition fees in Ontario have been the highest in the country — averaging more than $6,000 a year for an arts and science degree at university.
Meanwhile, college tuition is among the lowest Canada and the small increase in past years and the next two will see institutions fall further behind in funding, said Linda Franklin of Colleges Ontario.
“We had asked the government to recognize that colleges are different and to develop a tuition formula specific to colleges,” she said. “They have chosen not to do that.”
Student groups said while a tuition hike isn’t something they support, “we think there’s an opportunity here in the next two years, as the government said it is going to be doing extensive consultations exclusively on tuition,” said Jamie Cleary of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.
The government says a student from a family earning $30,000 per year has a little over one in three chance of going on to post-secondary. A student from a family earning $110,000 a year has an almost two in three chance.
Meanwhile, the changes to how post-secondary institutions are funded will be phased in over three years, starting next fall, when they create “strategic mandate agreements” outlining their strengths and goals and how to measure success.
For the first time, the government is looking at tying part of the funding to a number of indicators — from employment levels after graduation to student retention and satisfaction.
The specifics of how the funding will work, and even what percentage of overall funding it will comprise, have yet to be worked out. But the bulk of transfers will continue to be based on enrolment.
Matthews said for institutions facing declining enrolment because of demographics, the free tuition plan will encourage more low-income and mature students to attend, as well as under-represented groups such as indigenous students.
“It really is positive change,” she said. “The (student grant and loan) changes are for sure our number one priority to get those right.”
Mindful that students are now applying for university and college for next fall, when the tuition relief is set to begin, the government recently launched an online “student assistance calculator,” to give an idea of how much in grants and loans they are eligible for.
The government is advertising its free tuition via social media — Facebook and YouTube — but also in movie theatres.
A government-commissioned report issued a year ago said the government should tie some funding to the quality of post-secondary education, from undergraduate satisfaction to evidence that students have learned skills such as communication and critical thinking.
In Ontario, about one-third of adults now hold a degree.
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Tags: budget, featured, ideology, tax, youth
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