Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Halifax, NS | Mon, March 31st, 2008

version for persons with vision loss

Nova Scotia to freeze tuitions

By OUR STAFF
Mon. Mar 31 - 10:23 AM

Nova Scotia Education Minister Karen Casey announced a new deal Monday with the province's universities that will freeze tuitions for the next three years.
(ERIC WYNNE / Staff / File)

The highest undergraduate university tuitions in the country will be frozen for the next three years.

The Nova Scotia government announced a new funding agreement this morning with its 11 universities that will maintain the current costs.

A memorandum of understanding, signed by Education Minister Karen Casey and Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents chairman Tom Traves, will increase funding to universities to meet operational costs and eliminate tuition increases for all students, the Education Department said in a news release.

The province is also establishing a $66-million Nova Scotia University Student Bursary Trust to make education more affordable for Nova Scotia and out-of-province Canadian students.

The tuition and bursary deals will bring the cost of education borne by Nova Scotia students attending a Nova Scotia university to the national tuition average by 2010-11, the department said.

"These measures will make a university education affordable for more Nova Scotians," Ms. Casey said in the release.

"At the same time, we are helping to ensure Nova Scotia universities remain attractive to students from outside the province."

For Nova Scotians, the bursary will provide a maximum per-student benefit of $761 in 2008-09, $1,022 in 2009-10 and $1,283 in 2010-11.

Canadian students from outside Nova Scotia will benefit from the tuition freeze and a bursary of $261 in 2010-11.

Student groups say they are pleased with the short-term help, but question why students from outside the province aren't included until 2010.

Kaley Kennedy, of the Canadian Federation of Students, says it doesn't make sense to penalize students from outside the province at a time when enrolments are declining and the population is aging.

Dalhousie University science student Katie Copeland wasn’t impressed the bursaries are for Nova Scotia students only.

“That’s really unfortunate because there’s a lot of students from outside of the province that go to Dal,” said the second-year student.

Ms. Copeland said she thinks that move will discourage out-of-province students from coming here. She said she may end up going out West because of the high cost of tuition and the fact she isn’t earning much at her part-time job at an art supply store.

But Cheryl Graham, a third year nursing student at Dal, was pleased by the bursary plan and thinks the provincial government should be looking after Nova Scotia students first.

“They (out-of-province students) have their own province,” the Pictou County native said.

“They can go there.”

Over the next three years, the province says it will spend $180 million in increased university funding. Available funding to the university sector will increase by $30 million per year to $348.7 million in 2010-11 from $258.7 million in 2007-08.

The agreement also takes steps to address student fees and other issues that may arise during the life of the agreement.

"This agreement is a significant accomplishment and the result of much hard work," Mr. Traves said.

The province, universities and students have been negotiating the new agreement since early December

It will replace the current deal which expires today.

With The Canadian Press

(newsroom@herald.ca)

COMMENTS

POST YOUR COMMENT

David fm CH wrote:
Remember people, just like the provincial Pharmacare program, the MacDonald Government got this done.

ashamed_maritimer wrote:
Too little too late, although this is a wonderful idea its comes at a time when the cost is already out of reach for most Nova Scotians.

NS Grad wrote:
It's great that tuition is being made more affordable for students now. I hope the government doesn't forget those of us who are in the process of paying off student loans.

JL25 wrote:
That is great that after many years of lobbying, this is finally happening. I agree with the above poster however...it would be VERY nice if they looked at forgiving student loans of recent years. I went to school for 6 years and am now paying a minimum payment of $900/month. It makes me sick. What's more is that 4 of those years, I was studying nursing, a profession that, given the current and looming shortage of nurses, one would think Nova Scotia would be trying anything to keep us here. Government funding or tuition repayment for the nursing program would be an excellent recruitment and retention strategy in my opinion. But I'm sure they will wait until it's too late.

Amanda from BEDFORD wrote:
While I agree tuition rates are outrageous in Nova Scotia, it is also the student loans that are the problem and should be reviewed. The interest on the student loans that is charged is ridiculous and the government was never suppose to make money on these loans. I am paying 8% floating interest on my national student loan and 9% on my provincial loan. That is on a tuition that is worth about $10,000. Imagine this interest on a $50,000 loan.

bearpaw wrote:
Refering to the HIGHEST tuition price, relates to all the other HIGHEST prices in Nova Scotia. Simple thing like a 1 gallon/4l container of water is about $1.00 in NS. We pay 64 cents. A 1 gallon/4l of milk is around $7.00 in NS. We pay $3.50 or less. A particular bag of chocolate was $6.64 in NS. We pay $2.64. Same thing. You pay close to $4.00 for butter. We often get it for $2.00 or less. The cheapest turkey I saw in NS was on special at $1.39/lb. We seldom pay over .75 cents/lb. Airline tickets per mile traveled are many-many times higher in NS. Why? If the plane is full, lack of population doesn't matter. There isn't space enough to list the many examples of prices being to high in NS, compared to other places. BUT I still like NS, and will soon be back.

J wrote:
Great, you've finally frozen tuition, when the rates are far too high! You need to lower the rates to meet the national average, and then freeze them, not freeze them and then wait for the national average to rise to meet the crazy rates of Nova Scotia.

HockeyCoach wrote:
I have to disagree with the student union prez - let's use the NS taxpayers dollars to aid Nova Scotian students. It is depressing to see the negative comment highlighted in a positive step such as this (although that may be the writer's doing moreso than the speaker)

Heatherdee wrote:
David from CH: More people I talk too would rather see "The MacDonald Government is done" - not so much because of what it is trying specifically to do with this initiative (which looks like it is trying to buy Metro student vote) but because "Where there is a political will, there is a political way". More people are seeing through these efforts because it's happening more and more often. This could have been done years ago by the PC gov't. It's a shame for the Premier in a way too, that these efforts are falling on deaf ears. The Miniser, Karen Casey, is full of integrity and class, and I respect that she is trying to do something here, for whatever reasons. However, I agree with the statement about the interest on student loans and it's not just what is being charged, it's how it's all handled behind closed doors and you can't get answers you need to resolve situations. I have a situation where I've been wrangling with the feds for over 6 years over a disputed interest amount after I've already paid well over $20k on a $17 k loan and that was with interest added.) I can't get the feds to provide me with a statement of my payments (because I was overseas for a while, I paid Ottawa directly rather than through a bank.) They even had a collection agency harrass me (and I mean harrasss...) for years over $3k. Now some people would say, "just pay the money" but would you pay it if you knew you didn't owe it and have an otherwise perfect credit rating because you do pay all of your bills otherwise? And after they've put you through the wringer - while letting others get off scott free? It's really frustrating I am being squeezed for more to cover the a$$es of those who haven't paid any.

nayer wrote:
It is wonderful that the McDonald government is doing anything to help fund post-secondary education. Not an overly bold step, mind you, to freeze tuition rates when they are already some of the highest in Canada, but something is better than nothing, so let's praise Rodney and his crew and perhaps our praise will give them the initiative to do something more. You know how you praise a puppy for sitting, or praise your young child as they learn to use the potty? Good boy Rodney, good boy! The next big problem to address, as some comments have already highlighted, is finding a way to ease the debt load of Nova Scotians who have recenlty graduated. I would argue that doing something to relieve student debt loads after graduation would do more to boost enrollment and would do more to keep skilled workers in the province.

David fm CH wrote:
Which is exactly why I like to point this out. There is some kind of idea floating around out there that our current Government does nothing. It is far from true. As far as I am concerned this has been the most pro-active and forward thinking government that NS has had in decades. People are too caught up in their own personal issues to actually look at the overall picture. I'm all for folks getting the best education they can, however when people sign loan terms and agreements they have to honour them. There are a huge amount of student loans in default, both provincially and federally, this is unacceptable. If it was a mortgage, the bank would take your home. NS has too many universities, perhaps it's time to bring this number down significantly so that the government monies available can be concentrated better. With falling enrolments and shrinking populations, maybe some of these institutions should either go by the wayside, or be 100% privatized.

mattybetts wrote:
CFS is an absolute joke of an organization, freezing tuition fees and not increasing the funding means a huge hike at the end of this 3 years....dont fool yourselves. I'm going to say what we all know is true deep down. we have too many universities in nova scotia in general, but to be more specific, there are too many universities in nova scotia that rely on out of province students to bring up their numbers. this is a bad idea by a bad government. they should be focusing on the inproper allocation of funds going to each province.

halinative wrote:
OK, great. Now lets' deal with some student loan issues. They're out of control and driving many into financial ruin. Charge people thousands of dollars for a nesessary education, force us to borrow the money, then charge us thousands to pay it back. Productive? Motivating? Equal opportunity? Satisfying? Heck no.

WUP wrote:
Freezing tuition rates now is not going to help students, they will still be left with trying to pay off a high debt with a low or average paying job. Ofcourse, this is great for government and banks because they are making a lot of money off the interest. The longer it takes to pay off the more money they make. The government needs to provide relief in the form of incentives and lower tuition rates. Unfortunately, this will never happen especially in Nova Scotia.

like hipping wrote:
Well, seeing how the current MOU expired today, there wasn't a whole lot the macdonald gov. could do prior to now concerning some of these issues. In terms of the loan issues, the provincial government has already announced a review of the entire system and have been listening directly to students on campuses for the past couple of months. I am not a conservative nor do i know who I'll vote for. I am however well versed in PSE issues and today is a huge win for education in this province. Yes, there are still many many problems and one can debate the merit of certain decisions, but this remains a huge day. Kudos to the university presidents, student reps and government reps who negotiated the new memorandum.

yeahright wrote:
For those of you who are griping about student loans, what about those people that cant get student loans since their parents make to much money....be thankful that you got one. Yes you are going to be charged interest, its just like anything else, I had to take a loan from the bank to pay for my education since I was one of those people who couldn't get a student loan. Everyone should have to pay back their student loans, and shouldn't think that the government should "wipe them out", why should I as a tax payer have to cover the cost of your education. Plain and simple some complaining about your student loans and pay them, all of them...

Haligonian2008 wrote:
I agree. What about those of us who paid the too high tuition fees for 4 + years, and now have a pile of debt, which we are paying 8-10% interest on, and, for most of us, working in jobs which don't pay us enough to handle it? Also, we have the highest tuition rates, but the exact same job pays significantly more in other provinces? Hmmmmmmm. So I should just leave NS like the rest of my classmates? Or should the government be doing something (anything) to retain its recent grads?

Frank_D wrote:
Too many people are going to university. The economics of it are totally off kilter because of that. University is not for all people. That is a horrible lie that leads many people down a path of debt and economic hardship. Some degrees are frankly luxuries. Unless the degree has a clear link to future employment, you are taking a very large risk incurring debt that may or may not be offset by increased earnings. If you can afford it, fine. If you cannot, think twice. Freezing tuition will help slow the runaway train but till the underlying problems are addressed, we will end up here again.

gman wrote:
This is a program that should be funded by our federal government. Students should be able to access aid to further their education at rates lower than those charged by the banks.It is a shame the Harper government has choosen to fritter away the massive surplus on tax cuts for their friends in big business and not on programs that would assist regular taxpayers and their children in school.

quietobserver wrote:
My thoughts on the student loan issue are just this, did you research the amount of money you would make with your chosen degree before you took the loan? If it wasn't going to pay for itself (and there are many that don't) why did you sign up? I know we always hear, oh my little lovely child, do what makes you happy, but I got news for ya, you won't be happy for long if you don't make any money! Get a degree that will pay you, or go to community college. We all need money to live.

WUP wrote:
Yeahright: That's right everyone stop complaining and join the sheep. Governments and Capitalists love people like you. Why not they can continue to enjoy gouging people for all they have. Truth is people who take out student loans are also working because it isn't enough to get through school. If you haven't received a student loan it's no surprise, it doesn't take much of an income for them to reject your application. It's not that your parents make too much money, it is process of elimination. The lower the cut off the less loans they have to give out.

quietobserver wrote:
I did get a student load, as I did not live with my parents. I worked while I went to school and lived with next to nothing, then I got a job in my field when I completed my training, and paid off the student loans. Yes, it sucked to pay it back, and I was poor for about 10 years, with a low income, and lots of bills, but that is to be expected. Now, 15 years later, my salary has increased nicely over the years, and my bills have dropped. I know this government rakes us all for taxes, not just those paying student loans. That is a different issue.

JMAC82 wrote:
Thats excellent they have decided to freeze tuitions, and allow Nova Scotian Students to attend University at a lower cost.....On the other hand, what happens to those students who have already graduated and are paying back enormous student loans because we decided to go to University in NS??? Rarely do we see any debt-pay down programs or initiatives for us! Perhaps politicians should give those a go!!!!!

mishel24 wrote:
i have to laugh - high default rates, yet this married mum of 2 didn't qualify for student loan on my $20,000 a year salary. throw it away on the teenagers who won't pay it back though... this move does not help me at all, I'm still not going to attend university I CAN'T AFFORD IT... but I don't have NEED

longlonny wrote:
Necessary, but tuition was already out of control as are "other fees." I can only hope people who continue to pay loans at ridiculous interest rates, after going to post-secondary schools in the past ten years will finally see some relief as well. They are the real victims, who lived through years of tuition running out of control, and now suffer month-to-month with high payments and interest (myself $500/mth, for nine years, or $54,000 gone, some $25,000 in interest) However, the government is using that interest to fund this program! Ahhh, I get it now!

Opinionated_valleygirl wrote:
So, it's nice that they're going to freeze the tuitions, right now when they are at an all time high. Why can't the Nova Scotia government see that there is something wrong here? I am currently looking at taking a nursing program, but to take any sort of RN program in the province at one of our OWN universities, it's going to cost me upwards of $20,000 a year or MORE, I mean seriously, take a step back, Yes, we have good universities and Community Collages here, but no one except outside of province students can offord it. We'll be paying student debt off until we're 60 years old! They've talked about cutting out tuitions, if students will sign a document stating that they will stay in the province of NS and work for so many years, well, before we can stay here and work, the government has to come up with some sort of plan for us to WANT to stay here, paying tuitions, isn't putting food on our tables once we're out of post-secondary education. I think instead of looking at the small things, they need to look at ALL the problems that are going on right now, that are linked to secondary education, because if they don't there's no point in trying to do all these tasks, and the province of Nova Scotia will turn into a retirement home, because none of the young people will be able to make enough money here to live.

debtfree wrote:
While I recognize the reality that tuition rates in NS are incredibly high and the urgent need for governments and institutions to reassess them, implementing a solution more effective than a three year freeze on already unreasonable rates; I do not see the merit in the gripes on student loans. Coming from a relatively low-income family, and wishing NOT to be indebted to the government or a financial institution (if there is a difference), I realised the need to come up with a different solution. I attended university for five years and completed a bachelor's degree, and came out debt free. I worked long hours when not at school for the first year, and worked full time and took three night courses/semester for the remainder of my degree. I did all of this while living on my own. It is not impossible to pay for tuition in this province, it just requires a stong commitment. Potential borrowers should do their research. The average new grad makes around $25k/year. Not a whole lot when you factor in loan repayment and the cost of living. Do yourselves a favour and work your way through university, take an extra year if you have to, it is worth it in the end.

Justtosay wrote:
This is great news and hopefully a step in the right direction. As for the person who said "They have their own province, let them go there"....get real!! What about, oh I don't know, the thousands of students from Labrador who are much closer to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick than they are to the island of Newfoundland. They should have to suffer b/c of Geography? All students who chose to attend universities in Nova Scotia should pay the same rate. So what about my child? What should she be required to pay? We are Labradorians who moved to Nova Scotia so that we wouldn't have to incur the enormous travel and housing costs when the kids are ready for university. In my opinion, if anyone should pay the higher tuition rates, it's the Nova Scotians who have the priviliege of staying home with their parents while completing university.

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