BY NATASHACAIRNS Treasurer CFS - PE]

Not unlike most other

AUDITIONS

Stude

students today, you are probably concerned with how you're going to pay back your student loan after you graduate. Well, the gov-

The Cadre

Theatre Society > Will be holding E aditions os

Thursday Jan 22 = To —& Sunday Jan 25

Times will be postec at the BREEZWA *.

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Lu

January 20,

urges that you read this article so you know exactly what you may be facing in the near fu- ture as a student, and then a graduate with more likely than not a fairly substantial debt in your name.

Income Contingent Loan Repayment Programs, or ICLR plans, have been pro- posed as a loan program that sets the repayment of the stu- dent loan debt with a pre-de- termined percentage based on an individual’s annual income over a designated period of time. Support for an ICLR pro- gram was initially contemplated in 1955 by economist Milton Friedman who saw the ICLR as an excellent way to fund post-secondary education through user fees. Friedman also suggested that govern- ments should establish an ‘edu- cation market’ where capital, in the form of loans, would be made available to students as individual purchasers of their education.

Many supporters of the scheme, which ts designed to make repayment of student loans contingent upon one’s level of income after gradua- tion, propose it is an impartial and efficient way of offering students financial aid. How- ever, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) along with numerous others including fac- ulty associations, anti-poverty associations, labour councils, unions, and even banks con- demn this so-called student aid program.

Basically, itis known that ICLR plans do not appreciate the socio-economic realities facing students today, such as huge debt loads, high unem- os and many livingat or

low the poverty line. They especially donotconsiderthose harsh realities facing women, all ethnic minority students, stu- dents with disabilities, students with parental obligations, among others. It is also known that ICLR plans take student aid responsibilities and control away from the government,

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nt loans anyone?

ernment of Canada has a few ideas regarding this subject and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) strongly

equity and equality. This pro- gram also transfers money from the students, govern- ments, and families forthe gain of private financial institutions.

There are several cru- cial factors about ICLR plans that are ‘conveniently’ not re- ported by supporters of the program.

First, the principal orthe full amount of the original loan isnot reduced contingent upon one’s income level and must still be repaid in the full.

Secondly, Graduates with a lower level of income will be forced to take much longer to repay their loan and will therefore be paying a great deal more interest payments than those graduates with high incomes. (This fact also sheds light on the notion that some jobs are obviously ‘more valu- able’ than others, which sends the message to students that we should all be entrepreneurs and big business owners de- spite our interests).

Thirdly, ICLR plans have historically gone hand in hand with the implementation of higher tuition fees.

Fourth, ICLR plans have their sights set on becoming a way to replace public funding for post-secondary education, and therefore would inevitably mean that the Canadian post- secondary system will be set up like the American-style two tiered system where those who have the means can pay more to get a higher quality educa- tion.

Workable alternatives to the ICLR plans have been pro- posed by such groups as the CFS and it is crucial that the students not be deceived by any claims about how ‘great’ the program is supposed to be.

ICLR plans will only in- crease the financial barriers to a post-secondary education, and therefore take away from the premise that post-second- ary education, which is be- coming a necessity today, should be a right for all stu- dents, and add to the idea that

; which in tum causes the lossof only a piatinnt few are re-