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Tag: Student Loans

The Tools to Plan

Governments are really keen on planning as a way to improve access to education. “If only people would plan more,” goes the refrain, “people would be able to explore more options, make better financial decisions, etc., etc.” True as far as it goes; so why are governments themselves the biggest culprits in impeding good financial planning? Say you’re a student in grade 12 deciding where to go to school next year. You’d probably like to know how your choice of

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November 14, 2012 No Comments

The Deal

After twelve weeks and a marathon negotiation session on Saturday, it appears the bitter Quebec student strike is approaching its end. The deal: – Tuition increase of $1,778 over seven years ($127 per semester). – Eligibility for student loans and grants expanded over and above existing plans. – A provisional committee on university finance will be struck, consisting of six university representatives, four student representatives, two union reps, two business community reps, and one representative each from the province’s CEGEPS

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May 7, 2012 No Comments

A Harper-ized Canada Student Loans Program

I rarely say this about a Jane Taber article, but her Christmas Eve piece on Prime Minister Harper’s stewarding of federal-provincial relations was mildly fascinating. Her thesis is that Harper is gradually starting to impose his vision of water-tight federalism and has a long-term plan to get the federal government to back off and let provinces get on with doing whatever they are supposed to do under Article 92 of the Constitution. So, what’s the impact on higher education? I

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January 4, 2012 1 Comment

Affordable Enough?

“Everybody knows” that student debt loads are spiralling out of control, that the incidence of debt is growing at an alarming rate and that debt loads are unsustainable. Student debt forgiveness has played a major role in the Occupy movement in the United States, where student debt doubled in the last decade and now exceeds credit card debt. If reports are to be believed, we are in the midst of a student loan crisis. Scratch the surface a little and you’ll

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December 15, 2011 No Comments

A Prayer for Noah Morris

Noah Morris runs the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). He is the unfortunate soul who has the unenviable task of implementing Dalton McGuinty’s promise to give students 30% tuition rebates if they came from families with less than $160,000 in family income. It may have been popular electorally, but in policy terms it’s got “ugly” written all over it. The government could have implemented this through the OSAP system by just cutting cheques to student aid recipients. But no: somebody

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December 1, 2011 No Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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