|
|
|
|
|
03 January 2003
uwRyan.com This website is meant to provide value to UW student by delivering information. It will also supplement the column that I write for Imprint by providing extra information on some of the topics about which I will write in addition to the text of each column. Please provide feedback on what I write as well as give me suggestions of topics to cover. You can send e-mail to me to ryan[at]uwryan[dot]com.
uwstudent.org
Federation of Students 
|
Student aid falling shortTuition rising, OSAP dropping
If increasing tuition hurts accessibility then an increase in student aid can help accessibility. Statistics from UW over the past seven years show while enrolment and tuition have been increasing the number of students receiving goverment student aid has declined. In October I discussed accessibility and found studies that correlated higher tuition with higher socioeconomic class. Higher fees can hurt accessibility in two ways. First, students may be unable to pay. Second, they may believe that they cannot afford, often called "sticker shock." Student financial aid reduces the actual amount that students have to pay from other sources and the awareness of financial aid can help students deal with the amount of money they must pay. So in an environment of increasing tuition levels, the amount of aid can mitigate the impact on students. The Ontario Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities runs the Ontario Student Assistance Program, OSAP. Its stated objective, "...to help students from lower-income families meet the costs of postsecondary education. OSAP is intended to promote equality of opportunity for postsecondary studies by providing financial assistance for educational costs and basic living expenses. You (and your family, if applicable) are responsible for meeting the basic costs of your postsecondary education." The loan portion consists of funds from the provincial and federal government in the Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loans Program. Further funds can come from Ontario Student Opportunity Grants, which, as a grant does not need to be repaid. From 1995-1996 to 2001-2002 total grad and undergrad enrolment increased 16 per cent from 17,004 to 19,734, and tuition increased in all programs. Arts tuition, for example, increased 64 per cent from $1,226 to $2,015. Part of this tuition increase is ameliorated by the 10 ten per cent holdback on 1996 tuition increasess and 30 per cent after 1996, which is essentially a redistribution. In the same period the number of student receiving OSAP dropped 26 per cent from 5,226 to 3,871. Over this period the government made some changes to how they assess students for funding. In 1998 they extended the time that that parents are expected to contribute to educational expenses from four years to five years. This applies to the Ontario portion of loans. Also in this time part-time students became ineligible for Ontario loans. These changes make some students ineligible for OSAP and reduces the funds available for others. That the number of students receiving aid decreased while enrolment and tuition increased suggests that students will have to undergo greater financial hardship than they did before. One way the number students receiving aid might decrease is that students attending university had greater financial means, which would mean accessibility was lost. Another possibility is that students receiving aid in 1995 had it too easy, which would mean that they were being vastly overpaid considering how much tuition has increased. In order to protect the quality of students entering the university system, OSAP must ensure that it has a proper assessment process. |