Affordable post-secondary education is a key issue for Canadians. A myriad of polls indicate that a majority of Canadians support reducing or freezing tuition fees.

If YOU feel that tuition fees are too high, if YOU think that higher education should be a right for all Canadians regardless of their socioeconomic status, then take action on February 1st.

Come out to a student-led rally on February 1st outside MUSC at 11am.

Reduce Tuition Fees - Drop Student Debt - Increase Education Funding
ALL OUT FEBRUARY 1st!!!
http://www.educationisaright .ca/en/

We'll pay for tuition anyways. Freezing/lowering comes from somewhere:Our current tuitions or our taxes later in life(or now) I think this needs to be said because it just gets added to the deficit. It just doesn't disappear.

I still think our tuition fees are not that bad. Compared to tuition costs in other countries, ours is still considerably less than what you would pay in say the states, where you have to sacrifice an arm and a leg.

Addition: I'm no expert on the subject but I think the comparison of tuition accross provinces is redundant. Of course there's going to be some discrepencies between provinces. We have top ranked facilities and faculty in ontario...a more valued degree = higher tuition no? The tuition difference between faculties I feel are somewhat similar.. a liberal arts student needs some books to learn, and an engineering student needs fancy multi-million dollar scanning electron microscope for labs. I'll be dammed if the engineering student has to pay a little more for his/her education.

#first world problems

Get govt out of the way and costs will significantly drop.

Trust me, ask your grandparent about uni costs. Then ask them about govt role during their education.

Not sure about other provinces, but at least in Ontario, OSAP pretty much ensures student of any socioeconomic status to pursue their studies in a university. Some of the money's just given in form of bursary, the school gives some more bursaries, you can try to get scholarships and the max loan that can be tagged onto one is $7000. I think we already have a system to ensure student of any socioeconomic status to study in highr education if that's what they want. Tuition fee's supposedly going to go down by 30% starting next year, so demanding even more than that seems like it's asking a little too much/whining. Also compared to other countries tuition's pretty cheap and there's alot of flexibility in paying off the debts at the end of your studies

The problem is also about the rising costs. This means in less than a decade, tuition is going to be unbearable.

Why are we protesting this? McMaster's tuition fees are on the lower end compared to other universities in Ontario.

Trust me, ask your grandparent about uni costs. Then ask them about govt role during their education.

Almost nobodies grandparents went to university...

In Ontario we pay the highest tuition fees than any other province in Canada, we pay twice as much as students in Quebec and Newfoundland, yet we also have the worst faculty-student ratio in Canada. The 30% "grant" will not lower tuition fees, and they will continue to rise. Tuition fees have risen 59% since 2006, education has become inaccessible and our government needs to prioritize our education. I don't understand the resistance we are getting, does everyone take delight in paying more for lesser quality of education? Is the prospect of graduating $30,000 in debt pleasurable for you?

Originally Posted by RyanC

#first world problems

Painting rising tuition costs as a “first world problem” is extremely offensive to students who are currently struggling to pay off their student debt/tuition fees. It trivializes the plight that many students face when attempting to acquire higher education.

Although you may come from a privileged background where paying tuition is a non-issue , this is not the case for thousands of Ontario students, especially those from marginalized groups – such as First Nations communities and newcomers.

The truth is that we DO have money to fund broader access to education -it’s just not being allocated appropriately. Our government spent 14 billion dollars on corporate tax cuts last year – if they spent just 10% of that money on funding education – we would be paying less than 2000 dollars/year on tuition! It’s clear that our government’s priorities are not where they should be.

The Feb 1st Day of Action is an opportunity for ALL Canadian Students to examine, think and raise awareness about these issues.

ALL OUT FEB 1st!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ embedded&v=odOj6PIuCM c

I don't think anyone is saying they delight in paying more for lesser quality in their education, and I don't think that putting words in their mouths is really the right method considering you are attempting to garner support for your cause.

Originally Posted by lanju

Not sure about other provinces, but at least in Ontario, OSAP pretty much ensures student of any socioeconomic status to pursue their studies in a university. Some of the money's just given in form of bursary, the school gives some more bursaries, you can try to get scholarships and the max loan that can be tagged onto one is $7000. I think we already have a system to ensure student of any socioeconomic status to study in highr education if that's what they want. Tuition fee's supposedly going to go down by 30% starting next year, so demanding even more than that seems like it's asking a little too much/whining. Also compared to other countries tuition's pretty cheap and there's alot of flexibility in paying off the debts at the end of your studies

Two things:

i) While there are some grants that are associated with OSAP, the majority of that funding is a loan. The thing about loans is that you still have to pay them back. The $7300 cap on what you have to pay back is nice, but kind of unfair to those students paying more than that but don't quite reach it.

Example: my tuition is $9000 and my loan is about $5500. I end up paying $3500 now and $5500 later. Assuming I'm a first-year student and tuition doesn't increase, over four years I end up paying $36000.

Someone else's tuition is $9000, and they're getting an $8500 loan, and as a result pay only $500 upfront. Making the same assumptions as above, four years later they can take advantage of the payback cap, and end up paying only 4*(500 + 7300) = $31200. The numbers are pretty arbitrary, but my point still stands.

ii) Tuition isn't going down by 30% next year, and I hate how people were led to think that. I wrote a big rant about it here.

Originally Posted by sf2fs

Painting rising tuition costs as a “first world problem” is extremely offensive to students who are currently struggling to pay off their student debt/tuition fees. It trivializes the plight that many students face when attempting to acquire higher education.

I know many people either work their asses off in school to get scholar ships, or work their asses off in a job to pay for their education. If you can't manage to do either of these, then the fault lies in thousands of unsatisfied people who decide to attend the post-secondary education place in your area, which results in a higher demand for seats, resulting in higher costs. (not to mention people going to uni without a plan, filling up space) While all this happens, there are tons of empty seats in lower populated colleges/universities..

Tuition isn't that crazy if you don't have to spend thousands of unnecessary dollars per year on housing/residence, and if you do, you're moving to go to school rather than stay put in your home town. A huge number of people who finally get this education, don't actually use it for anything. Obviously people who live in towns with crappy schools, or not the specialized school they need are exempt from this generalization.

Overall, your enemy seems to be: rising tuition prices because of unnecessary enrollment, and choosing the wrong institution. Education is not a right, you just feel that way because of the society as manipulated you into thinking post-secondary education is necessary to stay competitive in the workplace. Not going to bother replying to the trivialness (#fwp) of the main issue I was poking fun at, the rest is more interesting.

Originally Posted by sf2fs

Although you may come from a privileged background where paying tuition is a non-issue , this is not the case for thousands of Ontario students, especially those from marginalized groups – such as First Nations communities and newcomers.

I don't come from a privileged background where paying tuition is a non-issue. I pay half my tuition, OSAP covers a tiny bit, and my dad helps me with the rest by working his ass off 7 days a week in an entirely different city. I chose this school for its proximity (doing a economic cost-benefit analysis in highschool basically showed that moving and paying housing fees is retarded) and the variety of choices it offered me. I don't really understand the 'especially' in this last sentence, giving a leg up for first nations and 'newcommers'(i.e. immigrants), as I don't see how they differ from normal people in Canada who are strugging immensely with paying for school.

Originally Posted by sf2fs

The truth is that we DO have money to fund broader access to education -it’s just not being allocated appropriately. Our government spent 14 billion dollars on corporate tax cuts last year – if they spent just 10% of that money on funding education – we would be paying less than 2000 dollars/year on tuition! It’s clear that our government’s priorities are not where they should be.

Saying the goverment spent 14 billion dollars in corporate tax cuts as if this is some kind of nefarious little scheme thats not in everybody's best interest is to raise and villify an issue without any reason. I don't know what these cuts are specifically for, but 'corporate tax cuts' are what make coming to, and continuing to invest in Canada for both foreign and domestic corporations very attractive, which drives the economy. I think a lot of people are far too removed from what the 'government' has to do in order for things to work the way they do.. if the 'government' decided to suddenly stop providing corporate tax cuts and give money to students, economic activity would very likely decrease and result in more people out of work.

Originally Posted by sf2fs

The Feb 1st Day of Action is an opportunity for ALL Canadian Students to examine, think and raise awareness about these issues.

I do agree, however, funds are not going where they should go as much as they are (education).. investing in giving Canadians free (or subsidized) education certainly is a very valueable investment. Do you think complaining and asking for handouts is the best way to go about solving this issue? (I hope it works out for those who are in need) Why not appeal to their best interests?


Sorry for writing all that, but I don't like being quoted on something, and have that person not even respond or understand what I was trying to say. I was really quite for this (clearly denoted by the ), but happened to reflect on what most people from shitty countries would think about this issue, but now you made me a hater, good going. Honestly I considered deleting all this and just writing 'post-secondary education is bollocks', but whatever.

The main issue is tuition cost. Now some people may argue that it can be payed back and that govt is generous with loans.

That doesn't really matter...

The issue is FAIRNESS. It is not fair for Quebec engineering students to pay a third of what Ontario students pay in Engineering studies when the quality of education is the same if not better in Quebec.

We live in ONE Nation. Provinces shouldn't be competing for education. We're not Quebecois or Ontarians, we're all Canadians.

We should all be paying the same amount of tuition regarding a certain degree.

If Waterloo wants to make their tuition 1k more because they have a better Co-op system, that's fine.

Let the free markets decide (Supply vs Demand, Price vs Quality...). Don't let provinces get in the game of subsidizing tuition so one province gets a better deal when the quality is almost the same.