I agree. Tuition rates should be cheaper especially for out-of-province students

Definately agree that we should puch for lower tuition fees and other fees... but hey.. i'm not sure how it all works.. even so, i cannot see how they possibly need all of that money.. we are definately getting royaly screwed.

Totally agree! I want to go to UofT but their tuition rates means I am going to have to work all summer long and borrow some money from family in order to pay (I won't be getting any osap ). I think a) the government should spend more money on post-sec and high school education rather than segragated schools (which is a ridiculous idea unto itself) and campaigning and whatnot. b) Schools should try and lower the tuition AND make more scholarships available to slightly-less than brilliant people (at UofT the scholarships start at 88.99 =__=")

Anyways, thats just my opinion. Anyone have any other suggestions?

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Life Sci '12 UTSG (Victoria college)

This topic gets me ranting whenever I debate it. First off, when you are applying for OSAP, those of us (lucky ) enough to be eligible, you must state your parents GROSS annual income (that is before taxes), and the amount offered is based on that, but if my parents are making say 40K each GROSS, but only bring home say 35K each NET, where is the sense in that? The poverty line in Canada I believe is a family of four where the parents bring home 50K or less together, so prorate that to a family of 5, and you'll see the majority of Canadians are lower-middle class (just above the poverty line). These are the same one's trying to send there kids to school so they don't get stuck in that same rut. I did projects on this for Canadian Issues class in high school. The taxation in this province and country is ridiculous, and yet we see no initiative into putting any money into stopping the inflation of the base price of tuition fees. Quebec is the only province where the provincial government has done anything to help, by freezing the tuition fees to around $2000 for residents, that is amazing.
The problem I have is that if the government is taxing so much from it's people, then we should see more initiative into upgrading our infrastructure, but obviously that is not happening. I would gladly bear the burden of higher taxes if it meant more government aid, at least I know the money is being spent properly. I see the EU countries as examples of this, where taxes are high, and personal budgets are tight, but as a result their schooling is cheap and they receive so much aid from the government it's ridiculous. There's not enough social involvement in Canada by the people. European people fight for their government to do what the people want, just look at what happens when governments fail the people - riots, revolutions etc.
If the government isn't interested in helping Canadians access post-secondary education with all the revenue they generate (woopdeedoo, you gave me a $500 grant, thats like a textbook and a writing pad and some pens, thanks) then at least make it so that people who are trying to get to school don't have to sell the family cow to get there.

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UWO '12 Social Science

You are totally right i see it on a daily basis. In high school when you talk to students majority of them will not apply they would say i just want to go and work for a year so to have enough money. This is absurd how expensive the tuitions are now. something is gotta be done. It really upsets me to see students with great marks taking the road to work at fast food to collect money for tuition.

In high school it's not exactly easy to hold down a full time job that pays above minimum wage, therefore its not as easy as you make it seem to save for university. P/T jobs in university don't pay that well either.

As far as European taxes, I made that point to show that their taxes are being spent properly, and in a country like Canada, although the taxes aren't that high, when almost every financial resource you possess is taxed, it is not right that the government takes your money and you see bare minimums as a return for it.
It's a matter of capitalism versus socialism - little government aid with lower taxes or more government aid with higher taxes, personally I would lean more towards the second option.

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UWO '12 Social Science

I'm not talking about part-time jobs. Those don't pay nearly enough. I'm talking about doing internships in the summer or enrolling in a co-op program.

Having lived in Scandinavia... I agree, larger doses of socialism certainly beats larger doses of capitalism. It's unfortunate that Canadians keep voting in numbskulls that try to turn this country into a 52nd state.

Tuition and books come out to about $5000. Through provinicial financial aid and bursaries, everybody who wants to can go to school.

I don't consider student loans in Canada as "drowning" in debt. Let's say you're in a worse-case scenario and owe something like $25,000 (unlikely). That's a tiny amount compared to how much you'll owe once you buy your first house.

Stop complaining and realize that Canada is one of the cheapest places in the world to get a quality education.

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-Stringer

while Canada is one of the best places to go to for a good education at a 'moderate' price (perhaps compared to the US) why shouldn't we be trying to look for changes where there is room for some? It's like saying, "Oh this doctor is half bleep but he's a heck of a lot better than that doctor from grenada therefore we just have to accept him" rather than trying to get him up to the standard of the doctor from Germany. If the money was managed better we'd have savings both at the private level (the individual student) and at the public level (with medical school more accessible there'd be less strain on our health care workers now as there would be more entering the field). Our canadian system has serious room for change. It's much better than a lot of the rest of the world as it is but that doesn't mean we should just sit complacent when there are opportunities to improve it. What you're saying is like people who don't vote because they say the current gov't is "good enough as it is" even if there may be better alternatives

The point is, SOMEBODY has to pay for tuition. If you want cheaper tuition, taxes have to be raised. Most people would be pissed about that because only certain people are benefiting from cheaper tuition.

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-Stringer