Former Premier Bill Davis was responsible for creating much of the post-secondary education system available in Ontario. He was often quoted, saying, “If we get education right, everything else will be better.” Education is the great equalizer. On February 13, changes announced to the Ontario Student Assistance Program by the Minister of Colleges and Universities, Nolan Quinn, make it less so.
Quietly tucked into a massive $6.4‑billion funding overhaul for over 40 publicly funded colleges and universities was a change to how OSAP will be funded beginning this fall. Presently, up to 85 per cent of a student’s OSAP can be a grant, with students paying the remaining 15 per cent as a loan. Under the announced changes, the grant portion of OSAP will be capped at 25 per cent.
OSAP is part of the great equalizer Davis espoused. It is a means‑tested program that provides funding and educational opportunities for post-secondary study. Part of that opportunity is not being burdened with thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in student debt after graduation. Not everyone attending post-secondary schools qualifies for OSAP.
The impact of cutting nearly 71 per cent from the OSAP grant portion is far-reaching. For students from the lower end of the income ladder, taking on that much more student debt makes education no longer just an investment in yourself but a 10-plus-year financial noose after graduation. One only has to look to the massive student loan debt crisis in the United States to see the potential long-term impact of Quinn’s changes to student financial aid in Ontario.
Lifting the tuition freeze and indexing tuition increases to the rate of inflation is an understandable change to help address the challenges faced by Ontario’s colleges and universities. The $6.4‑billion in new funding, coupled with the previously announced capital projects fund, is welcome spending on these institutions. Despite those positives, the change to OSAP is a negating factor because, in the end, all those changes will ultimately be passed on to students in the form of higher debt. Quinn should reconsider the changes to OSAP before future generations of students become heavily indebted for their schooling or choose not to pursue post-secondary education because the cost is too high.
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