Algoma U Students' Union weighs in on tuition debate

NEWS RELEASE

ALGOMA UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS' UNION

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30 percent tuition fee grant: Behind the scenes

SAULT STE. MARIE - After fighting for a tuition fee reduction for many years, we are pleased and relieved that the government has committed to $430 million to provide grants for 310,000 students.

Students are excited to see the government taking concrete steps to address the mounting cost of post-secondary education and to increase accessibility to education for low and middle income students.

The government, however, can do better and we, the students, are hoping we can work with the Ontario government to improve the policy.

We are concerned that: the tuition fee grant will exclude students who need it the most; the policy is inadequate at assessing need; it will be expensive to administer; it will be difficult to implement at an institutional level and will fail to bring more access to the sector in the way the government intends.

Students are concerned that the Liberal tuition fee grant excludes two-thirds of students in Ontario.

The lack of tuition fee controls and the expectation that tuition fees will continue to rise means that many students who require assistance will be forced to pay increasingly higher tuition fees while their peers who qualify for the grant will benefit from a well-intentioned but poorly executed form of financial aid.

The following students would not qualify for this assistance:

• Students who are independent from their parents
• Students in second entry programs
• Students who fall from good standing
• Graduate students
• International Students
• Part time students
• Students who are studying out of province
• Students whose parents make a combined annual income of $160,000 or more