The Cadre ;

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profitable programs will thrive while the less lucrative areas of academia suffer also has some administrators worried.

“It’s a legitimate con- cernand I wishI could counter it, but I can’t,” says Sheridan College president Sheldon Levy, who oversaw this year’s 480 per cent fee hike for the computer animation program at his college. “It’s a prob- lem.”

Still, notall schools will be affected by the deregula- tion policy. Although the gov- ernment gave the green light to all Ontario universities and colleges to hike fees in certain programs, only a few took the bait.

The U of T, Queen’s University and the University of Western Ontario-which

15 September 1998

were at the forefront of the deregulation lobby-are the schools that are raising fees the most.

It’s a phenomenon that Harden refers to as the ‘Harvardization’ of southern Ontario. “It’s creating a two tiered education system in Ontario,” he says. “Everyone's budgets were cut, everyone’s looking for new money. The U of T, Queen’s and Western will benefit while others re- main under-funded.”

Meanwhile, schools that chose not raise fees are pat- ting themselves on the back for being a friend of students.

“Our trademark is con- cern for students needs and we wanted to protect that,” says Claude Lajeunesse, presi- dent of Ryerson University.

“We didn’t hike fees [to the levels we could have] because we wanted to show our com- mitmentto accessibility toour students.”

The absence of ad- equate student aid funding was a major factor in keeping Ryerson from hiking fees more than 10 percent, he said.

Schools that did in- crease fees say they've pumped enough cash into their respective student aid pools to keep deregulated programs accessible.

“We have the student aid base, that’s what’s ena- bled us to make this move,” says McCammond, adding he’s confident no student will be unable to complete a pro- gram because of deregulation.

According to Karel

Quick facts on Ontario's tuition fee hikes

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next two years)

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Business: $8000 (110 per cent increase in one year)

Ny itoe Cr me Oo Computer Animation: $8000 (approximately 450 per cent increase in one year)

National news 7

Ontario Students face skyrocketing tuition fees

Swift, the University Regis- trar, this confidence comes from an agreement between the U of T and the Bank of Nova Scotia allowing students who need to borrow more than the Ontario Student Assistance Program offers to access a line of credit.

In addition, Swift says, the U of T is planning to an- nounce further programs to deal with student debt prob- lems in this month,

As well, the government has mandated that one third of any increases in tuition fees must be set aside for student aid,

But students say this isn’t good enough. “There’s a lot of talk about loan forgive- ness, but results are a different matter,” says Zbogar. “I’m still

waiting.”

Former students of pro- fessional disciplines are also critical of the new deregulated fee structure.

Barb Zelek, who re- cently graduated from the University of Ottawa's medi- cal program, accrued $50,000 in debt under the old regulated fee system. If she were start- ing her program today, Zelek says she might not have cho- sen to become a doctor.

“I would definitely have second thoughts [if I were considering going to medical school under the current fee formula],” she says. “Think- ing about the overall amount of loans | would have to pay back would be very overwhelming.”