CiaraByrne President CollegeStudentAlliance 372RichmondStreetWest Suite301 Toronto,ON.M5V1X6 TheHonourableCharlesSousa MinisterofFinance c/oBudgetSecretariat FrostBuildingNorth,3rdFloor 95GrosvenorStreet Toronto,ON.

.M7A1Z1 February20,2013 DearMinisterSousa: ThemembersoftheCollegeStudentAlliance(CSA)welcometheopportunitytoparticipatein theOntariogovernmentsongoingconversationwiththepublic,aswellasvariousassociations andorganizations,regardingthepreparationofthe2013OntarioBudget. The CSA is a memberdriven advocacy organization that has proudly served Ontarios college students since 1975. The CSA currently represents students from 15 colleges and 23 student associationswithover135,000fulltimestudentmembersthroughouttheprovince. ThefollowingsubmissionoutlinesrecommendationstotheOntariogovernmentwhich,ifacted upon,willresultinsubstantialreturns.Financialreturnsthroughincreasedincometaxrevenue, costsavingsinhealthcareandsocialservices,andsocialreturnsthroughincreasedcommunity involvement are the direct outcomes of maintaining and growing a highly skilled workforce. This goal is accomplished only through government investment in the postsecondary educationsector. Respectfullyyours, CiaraByrne President,CollegeStudentAlliance

Expansionofthe30%OffOntarioTuitiongrant Thecurrentqualifiersforthe30%offOntarioTuitiongrantareasfollows: FulltimestudentsatapubliccollegeoruniversityinOntario Studentswhohavebeenoutofhighschoolforlessthanfouryears Individualsinprogramstowhichonecandirectlyapplyfromhighschool(e.g., undergraduatelevel) Individualswhomeetthecitizenshipandresidencyrequirements 1 Individualswhoseparentsgrossincome(i.e.,totalbeforetaxes)is$160,000orless Althoughundoubtedlybeneficialtothestudentswhomeetthesecriteria,the30%OffOntario Tuitiongrant(OTG),couldseegreaterresultsthroughitsexpansiontounderrepresented groupsinOntariospostsecondarysystem,namelyFirstNations,Mtis,andInuit(FNMI) students;studentswithdisabilities;studentswithdependents;andlowincomestudentswho havebeenoutofhighschoolforlongerthanthefouryearsthatareallowableunderthe currentqualifierframework. FNMIstudentsfaceseveralbarriersinattemptingtoaccessfundingthroughtheOTG.The OntarioTuitiongrantrequiresstudentstoaccesstheirparentstaxreturninformation,which isproblematicforthosestudentswhoseparentsliveinFirstNationscommunitiesbecause manyFirstNationspeopledonotfileincometaxiftheirincomeisearnedintheFirstNation community.Furthermore,asmostFNMIstudentsaccesshighereducationatalatertimeinlife, theywouldbeineligiblefortheTuitionGrantbecauseonlystudentsthathavebeenoutofhigh schoolforlessthanfouryearsareeligible.2 Likewise,studentswithdisabilities,studentswithdependents,andmanystudentswithlower incomesaremorelikelytoattendpostsecondaryinstitutionsatlaterpointsintheirlives;thus, theyareunlikelytomeettheMinistryofTrainingCollegesandUniversitiessetqualifier regardingthetimethathaspassedsincehighschoolgraduation. The20092010systemwidesummaryoftheCollegesMYAAReportbacksshowthatthe enrollmentfiguresofunderrepresentedgroupsareasfollows:
Students with Disabilities: Total Enrolment First-Generation Students: Total Enrolment Aboriginal Students: Total Enrolment 21,484 40,494 7,277

OntarioMinistryofTrainingCollegesandUniversities(MTCU)(2012).30%offOntariotuition,AmIeligible. Retrievedfromhttp://www.ontario.ca/educationandtraining/30offontariotuition 2 Popovic,Tamara.(2012).FirstNations,MtisandInuitstudentsinOntariospostsecondarysystem.Retrieved fromhttp://www.collegestudentalliance.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/FirstNationsMetisandInuitStudents inOntariosPSENovember2012.pdf

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Recommendation: Expand the 30% Off Ontario Tuition Program to include greater numbers of historically underrepresentedgroupsinOntariospostsecondarysystem,includingFirstNations,Mtisand Inuit students, students with disabilities, students with dependents, and other lowincome studentswhomaynotmeetthecurrentqualifiersforthegrant. Students from historically underrepresented groups tend to be more adverse to debt. Therefore, they are less likely to take on personal debt in order to access postsecondary education (PSE). Potential students in these demographic groups tend to overestimate the costs of PSE and underestimate the longterm benefits. Creating lowercost access to PSE for underrepresentedstudentpopulationswillhelptoalleviatesomeofthefinancialburdenthat thesestudentsfaceincompletingtheirstudies,thusincreasingtheprovincesPSEattainment rate. When using the 2009/2010 multiyear accountability agreement (MYAA) data as a baseline,theexpansionofthe30%OffOntarioTuitionProgramhasthepotential,annually,to allownearly70,000underrepresentedstudentstheopportunitytoenrollinanOntarioCollege. PerStudentFunding Current perstudent funding levels in Ontario are the lowest in the country by a staggering amount. Over the last five years, the total operating grants per fulltime equivalent [FTE] student fell more than 11%.3Current operating grant levels for colleges in Ontario are well belownationalaverages,asdemonstratedbelow.
EstimatedGrantandTuitionFeeRevenuePerCollegeStudent AllProvinces201011andOntario201112
TuitionFees/FTE($) 15,000 2,654 10,000 5,000 0 SK MB AB NS PE BC NL NB ON ON National 11/12 Average 10/11 2,209
6,060

20,000

OperatingGrant/FTE($)

9,540

Incooperationwiththefederalgovernment,theOntariogovernmentmustmeetthenational perstudent funding average in the basic operating grants that are provided to institutions. Adhering to this average would allow for affordable, sustainable tuition costs for students

CollegesOntario(2012).Towardsastrongerworkforce:Ontariocollegessubmissionforthe2012budget. Retrievedfromhttp://www.collegesontario.org/policypositions/budget submissions/2012_13_budget_submission.pdf

withoutdecreasingthequalityoftheireducationbecauseofincreasedoperationalconstraints fortheinstitutions. Higher enrolment rates and reduced revenue from basic operating grants to the institutions helpedtoacceleratethegrowthofcollegetuitionfees.Theeffectsof suchunderfundingcan have a damaging impact on the quality of education at colleges and universities across the province.Institutionshavetriedtoeasetheseshortcomingsbyrelyingonhiringfreezesorby hiringparttimeandsessionalfaculty.Thesemeasurescanadverselyaffectanumberofaspects of higher education, including class size, course selection, program offerings, and student teacher interactions. Therefore, it is imperative that Ontario colleges receive equalized post secondaryfundinginorderfortuitiontoremainfairandgloballycompetitive. Recommendation: Theprovincemustmeetthenationalperstudentfundingaveragebythe20152016academic year in order to ensure that quality levels within the Ontario college system are sustainable alongsidetheexpectationsofincreasedenrollmentanddecreasedsystemwiderevenue. Increased institutional funding reduces the institutions dependence on tuition dollars and, therefore, alleviates the pressure on students to financially support the colleges increasing operationalexpenses.Thisdiminishedpressurewouldmeanthatprospectivestudentsbecome more likely to participate in postsecondary education, leading to higher enrolments and the achievementofthegovernmentstargeted70%PSEattainmentrate. StudentEmployment Studentemploymentisbecominganexceedinglyworrisomeissueinthepostsecondarysector since students unemployment statistics continue to substantially rise. The Ontario student unemployment rate of 20.9% in June of 2012 was higher than the national average of 16.9% and employment rates of Ontario students were among the lowest in the country.4This unemployment rate was 1.4 percentage points higher in July of 2012 than it was in the precedingyear. A decrease in the available government funded instudy and summer work experience programs is compounding the already difficult situation that students face in finding gainful employment,bothduringtheirstudiesandupongraduation.Manystudentsrelyontheincome that they earned during their summer break to help pay for their tuition and living expenses duringtheacademicyear.TheWorkStudyProgramwastransferredtocollegesanduniversities in20122013,asapartofarefocusingofstudentsupport.5TheOntarioSummerJobsService,

ServiceCanada(2012,July).Ontariolabourmarketbulletin.Retrievedfrom http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/on/offices/2012/07olmbjuly.shtml 5 OntarioMinistryofTraining,CollegesandUniversities(2012).OSAP,Ontarioworkstudyplan. Retrievedfromhttps://osap.gov.on.ca/OSAPPortal/en/AZListofAid/PRD003558.html

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theOntarioSummerCompanyProgram,andtheOntarioPublicServiceSummerEmployment Opportunitiesallsetagerangesforeligibilitybetween15to24or15to30yearsofage. With an increasingly diverse student population attending Ontarios colleges, limiting application to these programs to certain age groups or, in some cases, cutting funding altogetheriscontributingtotheincreasingunemploymentrateforOntariostudents. Recommendation ThegovernmentmustreinstatefundingtotheOntarioWorkStudyProgram,expandfundingto governmentsponsored student employment programs, and remove the age restrictions from thequalifyingcriteria. Maintaining a series of programs that are aimed at providing employment opportunities to students allows more of them the opportunity to secure additional income to fund their education,thusreducingtheirdebtlevelsupongraduation.Thiswouldresultinquickerasset accumulation as they launch their postcollege careers, including the ability to make large purchases (i.e., cars, property, and homes). These are large, taxable purchases on which the provincialandmunicipalgovernmentsreceivesubstantiallongtermreturns. Theabilityofstudentstooffsettheaccumulationofdebtthatisassociatedwithpostsecondary educationthroughincreasedinstudyincomewillresultinanenvironmentwhichmaybemore attractivetodebtadversedemographicgroups. InConclusion: TheCollegeStudentAlliancewelcomesthisopportunitytoprovidesuggestionstoGovernment ofOntario.AfocusontheneedsofOntariosstudentsisespeciallyimportantinthewakeofthe recenteconomicdownturn,recognizingthecurrentgovernmentprioritiesofjobcreationand economicredevelopment.Inthewakeoftherecenteconomicdownturn,afocusontheneeds ofOntariosstudentsisespeciallyimportantifthegovernmentistorealizecurrentprioritiesof jobcreationandeconomicredevelopment. The recommendations within this document will aid in meeting the governments target of a 70%attainmentrateinPSE,resultinginahighlyskilledworkforceandhigheremploymentrates forallOntarians. Welookforwardtoyourfeedbackontheserecommendationsand,withyoursupport;wehope thattheissuesthatstudentsfacecanbeovercome.