STUDENTS VISION. The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System SEPTEMBER 2012 CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS-ONTARIO

Transcription

1 STUDENTS VISION The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System SEPTEMBER 2012 CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS-ONTARIO

2 General inquiries regarding this document should be directed to: Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 180 Bloor Street West, Suite 900 Toronto, Ontario M5S 2V6 Tel Fax Web Ce document est disponible en français

3 CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENTS ONTARIO With more than 300,000 members at 37 students unions in all regions of the province, the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario is the voice of post-secondary students in Ontario. Founded in 1981, the Federation represents students at the college, undergraduate and graduate levels, including full and part-time students. Algoma University Students Union Brock University Graduate Students Association Carleton University Students Association Carleton University Graduate Students Association Association étudiante de la Cité collégiale Student Association of George Brown College Glendon College Student Union University of Guelph Central Student Association University of Guelph Graduate Students Association Lakehead University Student Union Laurentian Association of Mature and Part-time Students Laurentian University Graduate Students Association Laurentian University Students General Association Laurentian Students Union at Barrie Association des étudiantes et étudiants francophones de l Université Laurentienne McMaster University Graduate Students Association Nipissing University Student Union Ontario College of Art and Design Student Union Student Federation of the University of Ottawa Graduate Students Association des étudiant(e)s diplômé(e)s de l Université d Ottawa Queen s University Society of Graduate and Professional Students Ryerson Students Union Continuing Education Students Association of Ryerson Saint Paul University Students Association University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Students Union University of Toronto Graduate Students Union University of Toronto Students Union University of Toronto Mississauga Students Union Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students of the University of Toronto Trent University Central Student Association University of Western Ontario Society of Graduate Students Wilfrid Laurier University Graduate Students Association University of Windsor Students Alliance University of Windsor Graduate Students Society University of Windsor Organization of Part-time University Students York Federation of Students York University Graduate Students Association

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5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Background... 9 Context...9 Discussion Paper...10 Roundtable Discussions...12 Students Vision...13 Public Benefit Post-Secondary Education as a Public & Social Good...17 Affordability Tuition Fees...21 Student Debt...26 Disproportionate Impact on Marginalized Communities...27 Quality What is the Purpose & Function of Colleges & Universities?...31 The Link Between Teaching & Research...32 The Student-Faculty Ratio...34 Online Learning...34 Student Engagement & Experiential Learning...37 Accessibility Creating Accessible Post-Secondary Education...41 Students with Disabilities...41 Students & Mental Health...42 French Language Education...44 Regional Accessibility...46 Flexibility for Students...47 Accountability Building Democratic & Accountable Colleges & Universities...51 Right to Organize Legislation for Students Unions...54 Oversight by the Ontario Ombudsman...55 Capping University & College Salaries...55 Accountable Research on Post-Secondary Education...56 Conclusion Fighting for Our Vision...59

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7 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS AFFORDABILITY Mandate universities to introduce post-residency fees for graduate students. Establish a tuition fee framework that progressively reduces tuition fees for all college and university students to 2005 levels, including re-allocating money currently spent on the Ontario Tuition grant and provincial tax credits. Prohibit the institutional practice of charging students deferral fees, interest or deposits for tuition fee payments. Prohibit the institutional practice of implementing flat tuition fees based on course load or year of study. Eliminate interest on Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) loans. Extend OSAP eligibility to part-time students. Increase the number of Ontario Graduate Scholarships. Work with the Ministry of Community and Social Services to allow Ontario Works recipients to receive OSAP assistance and for Ontario Disability Support Program recipients to receive OSAP assistance without a clawback in financial support. Expand grants for non-status Aboriginal students and Métis students. QUALITY Establish a long-term funding plan that increases per-student funding to the national average. Improve the student-faculty ratio by hiring more tenure-track faculty and reversing the trend of increasingly relying on sessional faculty. Ensure the Ontario Online Institute remains an information portal for online courses in the province not a new, degree-granting institution. Reinstate provincial funding for the Ontario Work Study Program. Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 5

8 Prohibit the institutional practice of charging placement fees for co-op or internship placements. Prohibit institutions from requiring unpaid work placements in programs of study. ACCESSIBILITY Address the shortfall in deferred maintenance and ensure that buildings are sustainable and accessible for students. Reinstate the funding for the Fellowship for Study in French and expand provincial funding for French-language education. Provide enhanced funding to northern and rural institutions in order to provide and establish a comprehensive range of programs for these communities. Continue to establish the provincial credit transfer system that will allow students to move within the college and university systems without duplicating credits. DEMOCRATIC AND ACCOUNTABLE INSTITUTIONS Mandate universities and colleges to undertake governance changes that would increase student representation on decision-making bodies. Reintroduce legislation that would provide legal protection for students unions. Extend the purview of the Ontario Ombudsman to include university oversight. Cap university sector salaries at $250,000 and college sector salaries at $200,000. Eliminate the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) and redirect funding toward graduate research. 6 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

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10 1 8 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

11 BACKGROUND Context Since the beginning of the global economic recession, we have heard from governments around the world that they have to make difficult decisions to respond to the global crisis. The Government of Ontario has been no different, with Premier Dalton McGuinty and Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan frequently citing the need to slash the deficit by implementing restraint measures. The provincial government s austerity agenda led to the creation of the Commission on the Reform of Ontario s Public Services in 2011, chaired by former bank executive Don Drummond. Unfortunately, the Commission ignored revenue shortfalls in the province, did not consider increasing revenue and did not look for ways to reasonably sustain quality public services. Instead, the closed-door investigation simply tackled the spending side of Ontario s balance sheet and focused entirely on how to downsize public services including postsecondary education in Ontario. The impact of the Drummond Report on the 2012 Ontario Budget was stark, leaving Ontarians who rely on public services worried about the quality and availability of these services in the future. Students were disappointed to see the short-term projections for the post-secondary sector, including cuts to institutional operating grants and capital funding. The budget did allocate more funding to the problematic Ontario Tuition Grant, but at the expense of eliminating nine grant, scholarship and bursary programs. For every new $1.00 invested into the government s new grant scheme for , $1.20 of student aid would be clawed back through the cuts to the nine programs and tuition fee increases. The nature of the program changes also did little to help students with larger need, including those from lowerincome backgrounds, part-time students and mature students. Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 9

12 Discussion Paper Shortly after the 2012 Budget was passed, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities released Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge. Minister of Training Colleges and Universities Glen Murray made it clear that this discussion paper would be used to guide and facilitate roundtable sessions that were being held across the province. Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge is loosely based on a confidential discussion paper that was leaked in February 2012 called 3 x 3: Revolutionizing Ontario s Post Secondary Education System for the 21st Century. The leaked document, which was co-authored by Minister Murray, outlines a very concerning vision for the sector that explicitly pushes for three-year undergraduate degrees, three full terms per year and three out of five courses online. These proposed strategies to revolutionize the sector are inspired by examples from other jurisdictions whether or not these strategies have actually benefited students and are based on several, often false, assumptions about Ontario s post-secondary education system, student experiences and student needs. Despite using softer and more generalized language, Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge carries many of the same assumptions that are contained in the leaked document. The discussion paper describes the government s overall goal of identify[ing] ways to improve productivity through innovation in the post-secondary education system. The words productivity and innovation run heavily throughout the document but students are still left to ask how are we defining productivity and innovation? Does this mean that students, faculty and institutions are expected to simply do more with less? Are we changing things for the sake of change? Are we changing things to benefit students or other interested parties? The discussion paper asserts that the reconfiguration of the system is not only being brought on by the changing economy and labour market demands, but by the broader public s expectation for concrete results from the investment of scarce public resources. To be clear, the broader public including students and their families wants public money to be used wisely. Funding education has always been considered one of the best investments for the future of the province. It should not be a foregone conclusion that public resources are scarce, either. This discourse reinforces Don Drummond s claim that the province has a spending problem and omits all of the reasonable ways the province could generate revenue like reversing previous cuts to corporate tax rates and building on the newly created top income tax bracket. The discussion paper maintains that costs in the post-secondary education sector have grown at a rate above inflation and that the government intends to contain spending to ensure financial sustainability. 10 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

13 ONTARIO INSTITUTIONS RECEIVE THE LOWEST PER-STUDENT FUNDING Provincial government transfers to colleges and universities per full-time equivalent student QUÉBEC $ 12,756 $ 13,863 $ 25,459 $ 13,572 $ 10,222 $ 15,916 $ 13,481 $ 13,882 $ 14,208 NEWFOUNDNLAND & LABRADOR $ 15,771 $ 22,520 (Canadian Association of University Teachers, 2011) Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 11

14 It goes further by claiming that controlling compensation costs particularly with regard to faculty and academic staff is the key to financial sustainability. The document narrows in on faculty compensation as the main driver of the rising costs of post-secondary education, however, there is no clear evidence that this is actually true. The Ministry s assertions on faculty salaries align more with the government s interest in implementing a wage freeze for the broader public sector than the reality on campuses. Data from colleges and universities show that the proportion of institutional operating expenses dedicated to faculty salaries has remained unchanged over the last 15 years. 1 In the last decade, 200,000 new students entered the postsecondary education system, representing a 40 per cent increase in enrolment. 2 Yet, the rapid climb in enrolment and the basic resources required to support this shift are not even mentioned in the document as cost drivers. The concerns over the financial sustainability of the sector should focus on the lack of an adequate growth strategy over the last decade. Maintaining a high-quality education system cannot be achieved by simply doing more with less. Any discussion about funding also cannot be 1 Council of Finance Officers & Colleges Ontario Ontario Budget. Government of Ontario There s a one size fits all mentality throughout this [discussion] paper University of Toronto Student detached from the issue of affordability for students and families. Roundtable Discussions The Canadian Federation of Students- Ontario was invited to participate in the series of roundtable discussions hosted by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities over the summer of Students continue to stress the importance of the Ministry receiving meaningful input from the people who are most affected by policy changes students themselves. Students from campuses across the province have expressed the concern that the process has lacked meaningful participation from students. Despite having provincial student organizations at the table, local students unions or associations were not invited to the original seven roundtable discussions, even if they were being hosted at their campus. In addition, local faculty or staff representatives were not invited to participate in these discussions. As a result, the roundtable discussions were disproportionately comprised of senior administrators from colleges and universities. Representatives from individual post-secondary institutions were invited and were present at the regional roundtable sessions, along with representatives from Colleges Ontario and the Council of Ontario Universities. The voices of 12 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

15 students, faculty and staff were limited, and expectedly, the few student, faculty and staff representatives present were alienated at the sessions. The Ministry did respond to students concerns about the lack of representation by creating a students-only consultation in September. However, this session was organized with short notice for students representatives, took place during the busy orientation period at the beginning of the academic year and was inaccessible for some since participants had to cover their own travel and accommodation costs. The underlying problem with the consultation process was evident when the discussion paper was released. The discussion paper set the agenda for the roundtables and clearly outlines the intentions of the Ministry with regard to the direction that the government should be taking to reform the system. The roundtables did not leave space for the larger discussions about why the system needed to be reformed, how the system was not being productive or innovative, how the box that we needed to think outside of was being conceptualized or why the quality of the post-secondary education system was declining. The policy choices in the discussion paper were presented as the only available options and the objective of the roundtables was for stakeholders to provide feedback on how best to implement them. Education should be student-driven: this includes the ability for students to make their own decisions about their education. Ryerson University Student The most concerning aspect of the process has been the deliberate omission and separation of the issues around affordability and accessibility for students. The Ministry indicated that a separate forum for stakeholders would be created as a new tuition fee framework is developed. However, transformational policy changes cannot be treated separately from tuition fees, student debt and funding. While the policy discussions have been contextualized around containing costs within the system, there has been no discussion about how to reduce the cost for students and their families who are trying to get through the system. Students attempts to draw the link between affordability and the conversations around innovation and productivity at the roundtable sessions were largely ignored and deemed irrelevant to the discussion. Because the high cost of postsecondary education is not being properly addressed within the larger conversation about sector transformation, students will continue to face significant financial barriers to a college or university education. Students Vision The discussion paper and resulting roundtable consultations gave a clear direction for how the government wants to transform post-secondary education in Ontario. Students are presenting their own vision for how to ensure that post-secondary Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 13

16 education becomes affordable and accessible for everyone who chooses to pursue it, that students are able to receive a high quality education and that colleges and universities are democratic and accountable institutions. As the school year began, students across the province organized their own public town halls to ensure space was created for ordinary students to express their concerns with the discussion paper and, more importantly, voice their vision for post-secondary education in the province. Town halls were organized in every major region across Ontario and included events at Algoma University, Carleton University, George Brown College, Laurentian University (Sudbury and Barrie campuses), Lakehead University, McMaster University, Ontario of College Art and Design University, Queen s University, Ryerson University, Trent University, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto (Mississauga, Scarborough and St George Campuses), University of Western Ontario, University of Windsor and York University. Students shared their personal stories and highlighted a range of issues including classroom experiences, student-teacher ratios, diminishing access to education through tuition and ancillary fees, cost of books and equipment, equity issues, inclusive campus spaces and lack of adequate bursaries and grants. The stories and feedback from the town halls have helped shape this submission. 14 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

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18 2 16 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

19 PUBLIC BENEFIT Post-Secondary Education as a Public & Social Good As a society, we have decided that there are certain costs that need to be born collectively and not by individuals. Public services like health care and education are seen as having a benefit not only to the individuals who access these services, but also to our society as a whole. Students believe that college and university education should be a right for all people who want it, and not a privilege reserved for those who can afford the high user (tuition) fees. Unfortunately, because of government policies allowing tuition fees to increase dramatically over the past two decades, college and university is increasingly becoming reserved for the rich, while low- and middle-income families are either shut out completely or take on massive amounts of debt just to get a foot in the door. These policy decisions are out of step with what Ontarians want. Ontarians know the importance of college and university education and are attending in record numbers, with a 40 per cent increase in enrollment in the past 10 years. Students and their families know that getting a college or university education is essential to getting a job, but also recognize the value of education as important to engaging in our communities and developing as individuals. Proponents of privatizing education often exalt the individual benefits of a college or university education, while barely mentioning and even ignoring the significant societal benefits of a more educated population. These benefits extend into all areas of our social fabric including the economy, health, civic engagement and community development. For every dollar invested into colleges and universities in Canada, there is $3.20 in public return. 1 With 70 per cent of jobs now requiring some If people can t get a post-secondary education, what else are they left to do? McMaster University Student 1 Education at a Glance Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 17

20 form of post-secondary education, ensuring that all Ontarians have access to colleges and universities is key to helping to ensure people can get stable and well-paid employment. People with more education tend to have higher incomes, be healthier, access public services like income assistance less frequently and are less likely to go to jail. These benefits add up in dollars and cents, but more importantly, in the well-being of our communities. Unfortunately, because of government underfunding, our colleges and universities are increasingly reliant on private funds. Private funding takes many forms including tuition fees, the outsourcing of services such as food provision, private donations from individuals and corporations, endowment funds and corporate funding for research. In 1993, 25 per cent of college funding and 30 per cent of university funding came from government funding. Today, the portion has grown to above 50 per cent. 2 In Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge, universities are referred to not as public institutions but as publicly assisted, blurring the government s role in a policy of divesting from public colleges and universities over the past 20 years. Privatization of colleges and universities threatens the role post-secondary education 2 Colleges Ontario & Council of Financial Officers Privatization is an issue. The government should make an effort to buy back the colleges George Brown College Student plays in our society. In a private system, the priorities of our institutions are dictated by what they can get people to pay for. This takes many forms including predatory recruitment of international students who pay higher tuition fees, research agendas that are focused more in disciplines where there is a clear opportunity for commercialization such as engineering, the cutting of programs such as fine arts that are resource intensive but produce graduates who make lower incomes, and building new facilities over addressing deferred maintenance costs. Instead, students believe in a system where college and university stakeholders and the public can determine what our institutions should be prioritizing. 18 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

21 ONTARIO S COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES HAVE BECOME PRIVATELY FUNDED INSTITUTIONS Tuition fees and government funding as a percentage of college and university operating revenue Colleges in 1993 Universities in % PUBLIC 70% PUBLIC Colleges Today Universities Today < 50% PUBLIC < 50% PUBLIC (Colleges Ontario, Council of Ontario Universities) Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 19

22 3 20 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

23 AFFORDABILITY Tuition Fees The most significant issue facing students and their families today is whether or not they can afford to go to a college or university. The upfront cost of tuition fees is simply the largest barrier to accessing a post-secondary education. Generally, public funding for social services like health care and elementary and secondary school allows everyone in Ontario adequate access to these programs, regardless of their socio-economic background. These programs are funded through tax revenue, including revenue generated by the province s progressive income tax system. Tuition fees can be considered a regressive flat tax for education since all students and their families irrespective of income must pay the same amount. Studies have shown that the distribution of college and university students and the distribution of family income demonstrate that subsidizing the cost of post-secondary education through government revenue results in an income transfer from higherincome families to lower-income families. 1 By increasing tuition fees and reducing public funding, the net transfer from higherincome families to lower-income families would be reduced. Tuition fees in Ontario for undergraduate students were less than $2,000 per year in 1990, including those in professional programs like law or medical school. 2 Today, undergraduate students are paying an average of $7,180 in tuition fees, while those who want to attend professional programs like law or medical school have to pay upwards of $25,000 per year. 3 Ontario students pay the most for their education compared to students in other provinces in Canada. Undergraduate students in Ontario pay 29 per cent more compared to the Canadian average, while graduate students pay 41 per cent more. Ontario graduate students pay an average of over $8,000 in tuition fees per year every year they are registered, while the majority of graduate students outside of Ontario pay reduced fees during research and thesis-writing 1 Hugh Mackenzie. The Tuition Trap. Hugh Mackenzie & Associates Statistics Canada. Government of Canada Statistics Canada. University Tuition Fees, 2012/2013. Government of Canada Because of high tuition fees we could be missing the biggest ideas, brightest minds and the undiscovered creativity of others who simply haven t made it into the system George Brown College Student Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 21

24 stages of their degrees. On top of all this, international students pay twice as much as domestic students for the same education. The socio-economic implications for such an unaffordable post-secondary education system are damaging to a province that is still struggling to recover from the global economic recession. Some colleges and universities have tried to address underfunding by increasing the financial burden on students through ancillary fees or other fee mechanisms. For example, some institutions require that fall and winter fees be paid in September. Students who need to pay their winter fees in January because that is when student loan money is released or for other financial reasons are then charged additional fees. Similarly, many universities have implemented flat fees, a form of tuition fees where instead of charging per course, the institution charges the same amount for any course load over a certain percentage of full-time. At University of Toronto, for example, students in arts and social sciences pay the same whether they are taking three courses or five. These fee schemes are often used by universities and colleges to raise additional revenue from students. Other jurisdictions in Canada and throughout the world have managed to make access to post-secondary education a priority, while operating in the same global economic environment. The government of I wanted to take business, but I m in arts because I couldn t afford the degree for business students. University of Toronto Scarborough Campus Student Newfoundland and Labrador has responded to students call for affordable education and recognized the benefits of making college and university affordable for families to the province s economy. The government froze tuition fees between , reduced fees by 25 per cent back to levels between and has kept fees frozen since Undergraduate and graduate students pay less than $2,700 per year, while paying no interest on provincial student loans and having access to a grants programs that is more generous than what exists in Ontario. 4 Not only do students in the province have greater access to a postsecondary education, but students from throughout the Maritimes have flocked to Newfoundland and Labrador to pursue their studies. Between 1997 to 2009, the number of students from Prince Edward Island attending Memorial University increased by 418 per cent. The number of students from New Brunswick increased by 800 per cent, while those migrating from Nova Scotia increased by 1,079 per cent. 5 University students in Québec pay almost the same tuition fees as those 4 Statistics Canada. University Tuition Fees, 2012/2013. Government of Canada Kirby, Greene, Bourgeois and Sharpe. Matriculating Eastward: Maritime Student Migration to Newfoundland and Labrador. Memorial University Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

25 TUITION FEES HAVE FAR OUTPACED THE RATE OF INFLATION Tuition fees versus inflation in the last 25 years Undergraduate - Actual Undergraduate - By Inflation College - Actual College - By Inflation 7, (Colleges Ontario, 2012; Statistics Canada, 2011; Bank of Canada, 2011) Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 23

26 in Newfoundland and Labrador, while CÉGEP students pay nominal fees. Governments in Québec have historically responded to students demand to keep post-secondary education affordable, which is why tuition fees remain below $3,000 for undergraduate and graduate students and the province s system of needs-based grants remains. Québec s tuition fees have been consistently lower than the rest of the country over the last three decades. The previous Liberal government s multiyear plan to increase tuition fees by 75 per cent not only proved to be unacceptable for students who fought the hike with the longest and largest student strike in Canadian history, but also to the general population who voted the Liberal Party out of power. The majority of graduate students in outside of Ontario have access to reduced fees during the period of research and thesiswriting. The Ministry has identified timely completion in graduate programs as an issue, but has not addressed the impact of paying full graduate tuition fees for every year a student is enrolled. High fees result in graduate students taking on addional employment, limiting the time they can commit to their studies. Students have long called for reduced fees for graduates after they have completed course work, which would reduce the financial burden on graduate students and encourage timely completion. RECOMMENDATIONS Mandate universities to introduce postresidency fees for graduate students. Ontario risks falling behind the other provinces in Canada by not making access to post-secondary education a priority. Students outside of Ontario are paying less upfront and accumulating less debt, allowing them to better participate in their local economies. If Ontario wants to compete on the world stage, it also needs to recognize how other countries are educating their citizens. Many countries have public post-secondary education systems where students pay no or nominal fees, such as Argentina, Austria, Barbados, Brazil, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago. Ontarians understand how the high upfront cost of education affects their families. Year after year, polls have shown that 9 out of 10 Ontarians support a tuition fee freeze or reduction, with the majority of people are in support of generating more tax revenue in order to invest in post-secondary education. The most progressive and effective way to increase access to post-secondary education would be to reduce tuition fees and develop a long-term framework that aims to eliminate the upfront cost of college and university in Ontario. 24 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

27 RECOMMENDATIONS Establish a tuition fee framework that progressively reduces tuition fees for all college and university students to 2005 levels, including re-allocating money currently spent on the Ontario Tuition grant and provincial tax credits. Prohibit the institutional practice of charging students deferral fees, interest or deposits for tuition fee payments. Prohibit the institutional practice of implementing flat tuition fees based on course load or year of study. Student Debt As tuition fees continue to rise in Ontario, policy makers, educational policy entrepreneurs and interest groups continue to assert that students are more than able to pursue a college or university education through greater access to student loans. This policy approach diverts the emphasis away from the upfront cost of education, allowing institutions to fund a greater portion of their operating budgets through tuition fees and ignoring the impact of requiring students to bear the full cost of their education. With stagnating wages and household debt at record levels, students and their families simply cannot afford the increasing cost of education and the Tuition fees are increasing, student debt is getting worse and students can t afford it. Students make it work but are at a tipping point. Many students rely on food banks on campus because they can t afford food. Carleton University Student inevitable outcome of taking on more debt. The majority of students in college and university are forced to take on debt to pay for their education. Collectively, students owe the Government of Ontario $2.6 billion through their Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) loans and billions more to the federal government. 6 In addition to government loans, students are forced to take on debt through bank lines of credit, family loans and credit cards. More parents are now putting away less money for retirement because they are helping their children pay for their education. Undergraduate students who rely on both public and private sources of debt to finance their education carry an average of $37,000 in student debt after graduation. 7 Graduate students or students looking to obtain additional diploma or degree credentials have to carry their previous debts while borrowing more money for their current studies. Students 6 Ministry of Finance. Consolidated Financial Statements, Government of Ontario Justin Bayard and Edith Greenlee. Graduating in Canada: Profile, Labour Market Outcomes and Student Debt of the Class of Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Educational Statistics, Government of Canada Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 25

28 STUDENT DEBT IN ONTARIO IS BALLOONING TO RECORD LEVELS Outstanding student debt owed to the Ontario government 2012 $2.638 BILLION 2008 $2.260 BILLION 2005 $1.147 BILLION (Ontario Ministry of Finance Consolidated Financial Statements, ) 26 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

29 pursuing professional degrees like law or medicine often graduate with over $100,000 in debt, which severely limits their career choices within their field. If Ontario is looking to position itself well in the new economy, it must address the student debt crisis. New graduates are having more difficulty finding stable employment than ever before and the weight of a five-figure student debt is intensifying the problem. Saddling Ontario s students with such debt actually stifles the economy since their purchasing power is greatly diminished. New graduates are now less likely to buy cars, take out a mortgage on a home, start a family, start a new business or pursue more education. Instead, they must contend with paying off their student debt while trying to enter the shrinking labour market. Indebting a generation of people with large student debt will limit Ontario s ability to climb out of the recession and will surely damage the long-term economic health of the province. RECOMMENDATIONS Eliminate interest on OSAP loans. Extend OSAP eligibility to part-time students. Increase the number of Ontario Graduate Scholarships. Disproportionate Impact on Marginalized Communities Post-secondary education is commonly seen as the path to higher income earnings and socio-economic mobility for marginalized members of society. This idea builds on a vision that college and university education is accessible to anyone with the ability and desire to learn, and not simply the means to afford the lofty price tag. Unfortunately, a post-secondary education system that forces students and their families to pay a high upfront cost with financial implications if they cannot fully do so disproportionately penalizes those who have less financial means. High tuition fees constitute a larger barrier for marginalized communities including but not limited to Aboriginal, racialized and immigrant people, people living with disabilities and women and contribute to systemic discrimination within society. RECOMMENDATION Work with the Ministry of Community and Social Services to allow Ontario Works recipients to receive OSAP assistance and for Ontario Disability Support Program recipients to receive OSAP assistance without a clawback in financial support. Despite the ideal of an equitable and multicultural society, the economic reality faced by marginalized communities in Ontario and the rest of the country tells Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 27

30 a story of socio-economic exclusion. The 2006 Canada Census showed that 44 per cent of Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 completed some form of post-secondary education, compared to 61 per cent of the non-aboriginal population. 8 The proportion of Aboriginal children living in low-income households is double that of non-aboriginal children, while the average income for the Aboriginal population is 33 per cent or $12,000 lower than the non- Aboriginal population. 9 RECOMMENDATION Expand grants for non-status Aboriginal students and Métis students. On average, racialized people are two to four times more likely to fall below the poverty line and subsequently, are more likely to have related problems like poor health, lower education and few job opportunities compared to the rest of the population. 10 Racialized people have lower participation rates in the labour market, while also earning a median after-tax income that is 13 per cent less than non-racialized people. 11 The majority of new immigrants 8 Statistics Canada. Educational Portrait of Canada, 2006 Census. Government of Canada Chantel Collin and Hillary Jensen. A Statistical Profile of Poverty in Canada. Government of Canada Colour of Poverty Campaign Grace-Edward Galabuzi and Cheryl Teelucksingh. Working Precariously: The impact of race and immigrants status on employment opportunities and are racialized, but lower income rates are not attributed simply to recent settlement. It takes about 20 years for someone who immigrated to make as much as someone born in Canada of the same sex, age and education level. 12 In recent years, the participation of women in post-secondary education has increased more rapidly than men, but the proportion of men with some form of post-secondary education is still higher. This is, in part, because having a post-secondary credential is one of the only ways women can access quality jobs. However, men are still more likely to be employed full-time and to earn more than women. According to the Pay Equity Commission of Ontario, the average income of women with a post-secondary certificate or diploma is still less than the average earnings of a male worker with a high school diploma. In Ontario, for every $1.00 earned by a full-time male worker, a full-time female worker earns 72 cents. 13 Progressive economists have identified time and again, that any flat tax or user fee for services disproportionately affects people with lower incomes. The provincial government continues to ignore the regressive nature of tuition fees, instead opting to focus on a confusing and inconsistent patchwork of financial outcomes in Canada. Centre for Social Justice and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Colour of Poverty Campaign The Gender Wage Gap. Pay Equity Commission of Ontario Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

31 assistance programs through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Over half of the Ontario students rely on OSAP, with students having the ability to accrue almost $30,000 in student loan debt after a four-year degree. Marginalized communities are less likely to afford high tuition fees because of the structural disparities in wealth and income. As a result, they are more likely to rely on student loans and other sources of debt to pay for post-secondary education. If a student with the maximum OSAP loan takes the maximum time 14.5 years to pay off their loan, they will pay an additional 50 per cent on top of the principle loan amount through accrued interest. 14 Students are also paying interest on debts owed through lines of credit and credit cards to pay for their educational expenses. Students from marginalized families are more likely to pay more for their education compared to their wealthier counterparts simply because they cannot afford to pay the high upfront cost. Downloading the cost of post-secondary education from the public to individual students undermines the role that education plays in achieving socio-economic equity and instead, exacerbates existing inequities. 14 Ontario Student Assistance Program. Repayment Calculator. Government of Ontario Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 29

32 4 30 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

33 QUALITY What is the Purpose & Function of Colleges & Universities? The discussion paper and roundtable process set the agenda for sector transformation, but left little room for a larger question what are colleges and universities for? Traditionally, postsecondary institutions have been the places to generate new knowledge, facilitate the pursuit of knowledge, develop critical members of society, promote scholarly work and conduct basic and curiosity-driven research. The government is steering in a direction away from our postsecondary institutions being the central places of higher learning, but instead toward colleges and universities being industry training grounds and commercialization hubs. Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge places a heavy emphasis on entrepreneurial learning and the entrepreneurship capacity of new graduates, while cheering on the business incubators that currently exist in Ontario post-secondary institutions. Promoting the creation of business incubators or incentivizing entrepreneurial education in the province s public colleges and universities does not facilitate knowledge, innovation or creativity. Instead, the drive to commercialize college and university knowledge limits academic freedom and public ownership of research, while discouraging private sector innovation. By putting resources into business incubators and private sector partnerships, the government is subsidizing private sector research through the post-secondary education system and discouraging private sector investment in its own research infrastructure. Canada has ranked very low on indexes that measure innovation, especially with regard to its scientific research institutions and private sector spending on research and development. 1 Colleges and universities are increasingly being used to foster commercialization and serve the market, rather than educating people to be critical and productive members of society. 1 Klaus Schwab. The Global Competitiveness Report, World Economic Forum Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 31

34 The Link Between Teaching & Research One of the strengths of the post-secondary education system has been the intricate link between scholarship and research. This model builds on the idea that an expert in a particular field who has gained knowledge through original research and experience is best suited to impart that knowledge to students. Universities in Ontario have always built on the strength of its researchers and as such, have been structured to allow professors to teach and engage in current research. Over the last decade, however, this structure has fundamentally changed. Policy makers and institutional administrators have pushed for a tiered stream of education where some professors would only focus on teaching. The province has seen a trend where institutions are increasingly relying on contract, teachingonly faculty who are compensated much less than tenured professors and are not paid to conduct research. Contract faculty often teach at multiple institutions and are faced with the additional challenges that come with commuting between different cities for work. Contract instructors lack job security, as their employment conditions can easily change between semesters or academic years. From policy makers and institutions perspective, the proliferation of teaching-only faculty and reliance on A researcher can say this is how it happens vs. this is how it happens in theory. Lakehead University Student cheaper, precarious labour is the solution to containing costs in the system. The working conditions of contract, teaching-only instructors impacts the quality of education that students receive. An instructor may not be able to dedicate the time to a student who requires extra help or wants an academic mentor because they have to travel to another campus to teach a class, need to dedicate time to their own research or have another job. The opportunity for continuous course development is limited if courses are taught by different instructors and if those instructors are not able to engage in current, relevant research. It is now common for a significant proportion of graduate classes to be taught by contract faculty who are not paid to engage in research or mentor graduate students. Doctoral students are pushed to complete their degrees faster. Yet, these students have limited opportunities for them after graduating beyond landing a short-term contract position to teach at a university. PhD graduates are now leaving for academic opportunities in other provinces and countries. This brain drain amounts to a lost investment in Ontario s post-secondary education system and diminishes the province s research capacity. RECOMMENDATION Establish a long-term funding plan that increases per-student funding to the national average. 32 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System

35 GRADUATE STUDENTS IN ONTARIO RECEIVE LITTLE PUBLIC FINANCIAL SUPPORT Number of full-time graduate students compared to the number of Ontario Graduate scholarships ~60,000 NUMBER OF GRADUATE STUDENTS IN ONTARIO 3,000 NUMBER OF ONTARIO GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS (Common University Data Ontario, ; Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, 2011) Canadian Federation of Students Ontario 33

36 The Student-Faculty Ratio Students understand the important role that professors play in their education and recognize that the hiring and retention of professors has an impact on the quality of their education. Ontario has the highest studentfaculty ratio in the country, meaning students in the province are learning in larger classes and are less likely to interact with their professors compared to their counterparts in other provinces. Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge not only ignores the problem of large class sizes, it deflects the issue and suggests that institutions can create savings by maintaining class sizes and moving learning modules online. It is well understood in the elementary and secondary school system that class sizes matter because students need the face-to-face interaction with their teachers and fellow students. While college and university students have more experience in the classroom than their younger peers, the concept that learning is better in a more interactive, intimate and inclusive environment is no different. Students who sit in a lecture hall with 500 other students will undoubtedly have a different and less fulfilling experience than those who are able to interact with their professors and classmates in a classroom. Students were forced to sit on the stairs in my large science class because the class didn t have enough room. Crowded classes make it harder to learn and participate. Carleton University Student The student-faculty ratio encompasses many aspects of the learning experience beyond class size. It impacts the opportunities for students to get academic help from their professors outside of the classroom. A professor is less likely to mentor students if they have to grade more assignments, provide help to more students or write more letters of recommendation. At the graduate level, professors now have to supervise more students in addition to their teaching and research commitments. As a result, graduate students are not able to receive the level of support or guidance that they need from their mentors. RECOMMENDATION Improve the student-faculty ratio by hiring more tenure-track faculty and reversing the trend of increasingly relying on sessional faculty. Online Learning The solution to Ontario s high student-tofaculty ratio is to hire more faculty. Instead, policy makers opt to ignore the problem and do little to address the underlying issues. Strengthening Ontario s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge pushes an agenda to expand and rely more heavily on online modes of learning, with the proposal to create a new, degree-granting, online 34 Students Vision: The Future of Ontario s Post-Secondary Education System