Columnists

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Ending tuition freeze smart but tiny step

By: Dan Lett

Posted: 04/27/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Premier Gary Doer's decision last week to thaw Manitoba's post-secondary tuition freeze may have been one of the least surprising decisions ever made by his NDP government.The tuition freeze has been wildly popular with students, of course, but it has been under constant attack from the schools, which claim it starves them of needed revenue. Earlier this month, the province released a report written by Ben Levin, a former deputy education minister, that pretty much exposed the tuition freeze policy for what it really is.

Levin noted there was no connection between lower tuition fees and accessibility, the NDP government's chief motivation for maintaining the freeze. Levin recommended modest tuition increases for university and college students, the first in a decade.

Levin's conclusions were hardly shocking

Two years ago, Ontario and Quebec completed exhaustive studies of the relationship between tuition fees and accessibility. The conclusion was that lower tuitions make education more affordable for those who could afford to go; for those who could not afford to go, lower tuitions did nothing.

Advanced Education Minister Diane McGifford followed Levin's report with a decision to increase university fees by $135 and college fees by $100. For the time being, the thaw is only in effect for one year; Manitoba schools do not know what the 2010-2011 fiscal year will bring them.

Not surprisingly, those institutions welcomed the tuition increase while noting it will not address their needs completely. The University of Manitoba, for example, required about a 10 per cent tuition increase to balance its budget for next year, after provincial grant increases fell well short of what U of M needed. The $135 fee hike is a 4.5 per cent increase.

It would be nice to think the NDP's decision was an admission the policy had faltered. Or, at the very least, that the tuition freeze's time had come and gone. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that this government has lost its lust for the freeze.

The decision to allow, for now, a tuition-fee increase only for the next academic year hamstrings the schools. A one-year tuition increase does not allow them to plan ahead.

The tuition freeze has always been a half-baked policy. Although the stated purpose -- making university and college education more affordable -- is laudable, freezing tuition without adequate direct funding is reckless.

Post-secondary funding suffered massively in the 1990s, when federal and provincial governments cut transfers. The fact is that we have never caught up from those dark days and tuition freezes really only add insult to that injury.

That is not to say the province has failed to make any progress. The tax rebate for university graduates remaining in Manitoba is genuinely progressive policy, as is providing the seed money that has helped cultivate successful capital-expansion programs at the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and Red River College. But capital is only part of the funding equation for post-secondary schools.

Chief among the non-capital demands is the cost of recruiting and retaining top academics, especially in the scientific disciplines.

A Canadian university's reputation, and thus its ability to retain and recruit top researchers, is based in large part on its ability to compete with the gaudy salaries and grants offered by schools in the U.S. and abroad. The fact is that Canada has always fallen behind and policy gimmicks such as tuition freezes do nothing to improve the ability of Manitoba schools to find and keep its best researchers.

An unbridled, unregulated increase in tuition fees is clearly not the answer. Those provinces where tuition fees have risen precipitously have only succeeded in creating several generations of graduates with crippling student debt loads. And we exacerbate their suffering with a system of debt collection and repayment that treats students like criminals. These are factors that decrease accessibility and frustrate the genuine desire of many students to improve themselves through education.

With the recession raging, it's likely not possible for the province to provide the massive increase in direct funding needed to hold tuitions low, real financial help to lower-income students and fully fund schools. But steps should be taken to move in the direction of all three of those goals. The tuition thaw is one step in the right direction but without a move to improve direct funding and real accessibility, it's a just a baby step.

dan.lett @freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 27, 2009 A6

(You must be logged in to post your reaction)

Your reaction?

More Columnists

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.