Post-secondary Education in Canada: Strategies for Success

2007 Report

Summary: Part I  Chapter 8 

Affordable and sustainable PSE

Overall, Canada’s investments in post-secondary are above the OECD average. Public expenditures on PSE accounted for 6.5% of overall social spending in Canada in 2006, roughly 1% higher than a decade earlier. As stated earlier, this continued support shows how strongly Canadians value PSE.

But governments are not the only investors in PSE.

  • Tuition fees, which are not learners’ only costs associated with PSE, have increased at nearly four times the rate of inflation (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) from 1990–1991 to 2004–2005.

Figure 8.2.1  Rates of increase in undergraduate tuition fees versus inflation, Canada, 1990–2007

Note: Consumer Price Index annualized by taking averages from September to August. Source: Statistics Canada. Tuition and Living Accommodation Costs for Full-time Students at Canadian Degree-granting Institutions (TLAC), 2006.

  • The percentage of students requiring financial assistance has increased. The number of graduates who borrowed rose significantly, from 45% in 1995 to 56% in 2000 and 59% in 2006.
  • Between 2003 and 2006, the percentage of college students who accumulated more than $15,000 in debt increased from 17% to 29%.
  • Learners’ investments in post-secondary education are increasing more rapidly than the public rate of investment, indicating a shift in the financial burden toward the individual.

What does this mean?

Although the cost of post-secondary education can be viewed as an investment in career and life opportunities, there is concern that high levels of debt may inhibit access to and persistence in PSE.

The rising costs and debt loads for learners in Canada reinforce the already negative perception that many qualified students, especially from low-income households, have about the affordability of PSE.

Part I in full (PDF, 3.1 MB)

 

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