At Issue: Education...

The P. C. record and election platform on education

a time of great uncertainty and change in

education. This uncertainty can be felt on campuses from St. John’s to Victoria. Stu- dents at universities, colleges, and institutes are attempting to cope with tuition fees that rou- tinely increase annually at two to three times the rate of inflation or moreandstudent aid that falls far short of an education’s actual cost. Meanwhile, Faculty and staff are attempting to provide quality education with shrinking budg- ets. A wide variety of possible solutions have been proposed to deal with these crises. These “solutions” range from granting overdue in- creases to educational funding and student aid to doubling tuition fees and tying greatly in- creased student loans to new repayment schemes; however, perhaps the most important question to be asking this Fall is this - what are the political parties issuing as their education policy and if elected, what will they do to address the crises in education?

Any serious look at educational issues in this election must begin with the Conservatives. After nine years in power, their record con- cerning education is despised by many students and administrators. During their time in office there has been no increase in the maximum amount available to students through the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP). The funding of education by the Federal Government through transfer payments has been frozen at the 1989 level (allowing only for very small increases based on population growth). This limiting of transfer funds for education has resulted in an estimated loss of revenue to educational insti- tutions of $6.8 billion (Canadian Federation of Students figures). This is money that would have been granted to provinces for education (and health care) if normally expected inflation- ary growth had been allowed. In other words, the actual value of universities’ and colleges’ budgets has decreased by that amount and this

z his Autumn’s Federal Election comes at

shortfall is the excuse cited most frequently by the Provincial Government when trying to ex- plain heavy tuition increases.

Two other Federal Government measures have proven even less popular. The first was the imposition of a universally criticized three per- cent “guarantee fee” (the widely hated “3% Tax”) on Canada Student Loans (eliminated this past Summer). The second measure was the elimination of the six month interest-free pe- riod that was formerly granted to students after

"We have upheld our commitment despite the pressing need to control

spending and get the deficit down."

graduation. The six month grace period was eliminated in legislation that was passed this Spring after a near-revolt in the Tory Caucus in the Senate threatened to derail the legislation. This near-revolt came after almost unprec- edented noise made by student groups. Conse- quently, reforms to Student Loans are at the heart of the Conservative election platform concerning education. A wide range of further reforms are proposed for the program (that over 40% of U.P.E.l. students depend on to some degree). The major points of the reforms package are:

* — Eligibility criteria for Student Loans would be tightened. With some “flexibility” minimum course loads would increase from 60% to 80% (three to four-courses in U.P.E.I.’s case); stu- dents would have to be enrolled in a specific program of study leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate; and 60% of a full course load would have to be “successfully completed.”

* Student Loans would be available for the length of time indicated by the institution to

complete a program, plus one year.

* — Various measures would be attempted to

work with the Provinces to harmonize and

standardize student assistance.

* Anincrease inthe maximum weekly amount ° available from $105 to $150 (again, this would

be the first increase in nine years - a time during

which Canadian tuition fees rose by 93-360%).

x A program offering grants to women

pursuing doctoral studies would be established.

Physical and applied sciences, engineering, and

mathematics would be specifically targeted and

in 1994-95 up to 300 women would each be

granted up to $3000 (projected to increase to

1250 women by 1997-98).

“Risk sharing with lenders” would be

introduced. Basically, this means that the Fed-

eral Government would stop fully guaranteeing

Canada Student Loans to issuing banks. Banks

would assume some of the risk and presumably

more say in the program. This process has also

been referred to as the privatization of the

program. Many people are alarmed by this and

see it as the first step in government desertion

of Student Loans, while others see it as a

necessary step to increase the efficiency or

availability of the program.

= Finally, the Federal Government would

change the way interest is calculated for loan

repayment. Currently, the interest charged on

a student loan is calculated using 5-10 year bond

yields which are consolidated for the period of repayment. The Tories propose to base it

instead on a “Floating rate, based on lender

prime, with a ceiling or fixed rate with base and

ceiling to be negotiated.” This statement is

fairly confusing (maybe only to me, though) but - it is clear that the interest on Student Loans would be more subject to actual bank rates.

These items of the Conservative plat- form were released over the summer and | response, at least from students and student groups, has not been overwhelming. To the best of my knowledge, the Conservatives have not really addressed education funding, except to say the following (in an election policy hand- book that someone at Tom MacMillan’s cam- paign office looked up education in)

“We remain committed to post-sec- ondary education. We have upheld our com- mitment despite the pressing need to control spending and get the deficit down.” (I think | better keep my own opinions on that statement out of this article.)

While these reforms are substantial changes to the CSLP, the Conservatives may find they havea difficult time convincing many people that oppose their record on education that theseare changes in the right directions. On the other side, there are people who believe that main- taining the Conservative course on education is simply responsible deficit control.

Coming next issue (due out in two weeks):

The education policies presented by the other parties.

BRUCE DAVISON

September 23, 1993/X-Press/5