Lower tuition fees and accessibility

Report exposed Manitoba’s tuition freeze policy for what it really was

April 27, 2009

Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett has written an epilogue on the Manitoba government’s recent decision to lift the tuition fee freeze in that province. Lett makes the following point about lower tuition fees and accessibility:

The tuition freeze has been wildly popular with students, of course, but it has been under constant attack from the schools, which claim it starves them of needed revenue. Earlier this month, the province released a report written by Ben Levin, a former deputy education minister, that pretty much exposed the tuition freeze policy for what it really is.
Levin noted there was no connection between lower tuition fees and accessibility, the NDP government’s chief motivation for maintaining the freeze. Levin recommended modest tuition increases for university and college students, the first in a decade.
Levin’s conclusions were hardly shocking
Two years ago, Ontario and Quebec completed exhaustive studies of the relationship between tuition fees and accessibility. The conclusion was that lower tuitions make education more affordable for those who could afford to go; for those who could not afford to go, lower tuitions did nothing.

Tags:

Environment

Six Canadian university students on how they’re fighting climate change

University students in Canada are paying more attention to climate change than ever before. It’s their future that’s in limbo, they say, and they want companies and governments—and their own schools—to start listening.

Health

The grassroots food insecurity initiatives putting an end to the ’starving student’

Student and admin-led efforts are leading the charge to stop food insecurity on Canadian university campuses

Environment

Inside the student-led movements urging Canadian universities to divest from fossil fuels

University students across Canada are frustrated by the slow pace of halting dangerous climate change, and they are wielding their power to do something about it

Education

Five basic kitchen supplies every student should have

You don’t need a Le Creuset Dutch oven to whip up a delicious meal for one (or, say, eight). A few key items are enough to launch your cooking career—and some of them may even last you a lifetime.

Subscribe to Message Board, our weekly newsletter guide to planning your post-secondary journey

Whether you’re a student, parent or guidance counsellor, Message Board is a resource you won’t want to miss out on.