Ontario's Progressive Conservative government is eliminating free tuition for students from low-income households.
By: Ebony Tempral | OTH News | Posted: April 21, 2019 5:09pm
In 2016, the Liberal government made provisions for students from low income households and increased the number of grants. But the auditor general warned that costs could go up by 25% and rising to 2 billion by 2021.
Ontario 2016 budget:
Since students got the news, they have been protesting outside their schools and at Queens Park. The changes that bring the most concern are:
The elimination of the 6 month grace period.
No more grants.
No more free tuition for low income house hold ($140,000 and below)
The government has also cut tuition by 10%. The framework for this takes off 10% 2019-2020 then is frozen the next year.The government says college students could save $340 each year, and university undergraduates can save between $600 and $1,000.
Though some students are happy about the 10% cut in tuition, they're still concerns about how they will pay off their student loan debt in the next couple of months.
One student who has felt the effects of the changes first hand is Kiya Myers. She had plans to start university this Fall to further her career as producer/songwritter. Unfortunately, her plans were derailed since the funds she was hoping to rely on wasn’t available. She shared concern about the high cost she’d have to incure and didn't want to add more student loans on top of her existing ones. Here’s her story:
Check out Kiya’s creative process while in the studio:
The Canadian Federation of Students Ontario put Primier Doug Ford under heavy scruitinity. In an article by CFS's national treasurer, Trina James outlined some “flaws” in Ford's plan. Some of which include limiting access to funds to those returning to their studies and the ineligibility of international students for OSAP.
Read the full article here:
“At the government announcement, it was revealed that the 10 per cent reduction in tuition fees would not be matched with government funding to post-secondary institutions, leaving colleges and universities faced with a funding shortfall of $440 million.”
Comments