Skyrocketing tuition fees are keeping more and more qualified Canadians away from universities and colleges and are affecting the career choices of those that do go, concluded a national forum held in Ottawa last month.

The forum, organized by the Canadian Federation of Students and CAUT, brought together for the first time more than 60 representatives of professional associations, trade unions and community groups to discuss the impact of rising tuition fees on access to post-secondary education.

CAUT president Victor Catano told delegates that while governments and administrators may try to divide students and faculty over tuition hikes, the truth is they share the same concerns about rising fees.

"Every academic in this country was once a student," Catano said. "New professors being hired today are starting their careers with mortgage-sized debts. And all of us who work with students can see the stress they are under as most of them struggle to balance their studies with long hours of work - work they need to take on just to pay the bills."

Ian Boyko, national chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, said that with average undergraduate tuition fees rising more than 135 per cent in the last decade, Canada is moving toward an "elitist system of post-secondary education.

"Students from low and middle income families are already less than half as likely to hold a university or college degree. If our governments don't act soon, increased tuition fees are going to widen that gap even further."


Delegates Warn of Disparities in Education

While all working families want their children to get a university or college education, they are finding it more and more difficult to pay the costs, says Barb Byers, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

"Access to education means increased opportunities," she told the forum in a plenary session. "By raising fees beyond most working peoples' means we're closing the door to universities and colleges, and to the future of our young people. This is a national tragedy."

Danielle Martin, president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, said the situation faced by students in professional programs is even worse.

In 1997, tuition fees at the University of Toronto's medical school were almost $5,000, according to Martin. This year, students are being forced to pay more than $15,000.

"The result of this is that we're seeing less diversity in the classroom as lower- and middle-income families are finding it more difficult to pay the cost of tuition."

She said a survey undertaken at the University of Western Ontario revealed that in a span of just three years, as tuition fees increased, the average family income of those attending medical school rose from $80,000 a year to $142,000.

Martin added that the increasing debt load being forced on medical students to finance their education is influencing their career choices.

"We now have the lowest number of medical school students ever in Canada who are entering family medicine," Martin said. "With huge debt loads, who will be able to practice family medicine or public health, or work in rural communities where services are desperately needed? I don't think governments have considered how rising fees are adversely affecting our health care system."

Charles Smith, equality advisor with the Canadian Bar Association, said similar issues are surfacing in the legal profession as rising law school fees are making a career in some fields, like family law and human rights law, less attractive.

"The issue is made worse by the fact that the diversity of the legal profession is being adversely affected by rising fees," Smith argues. "Visible minorities and other equity-seeking groups who bring the interests of their communities to the profession are finding the financial barriers to be insurmountable."


Politicians Look for Solutions

Representatives of the main federal political parties were invited to the forum to present their views on what should be done to improve access to post-secondary education.

Libby Davies of the New Democratic Party said the federal government needs to take immediate steps to reduce student debt and roll back tuition. She also called for Ottawa to find ways to provide long-term and stable funding for post-secondary education.

"The measure of an enlightened society is founded on its recognition of education as a right, that all individuals should be able to develop their full potential," Davies said.

Education is the "raw material for the development of a community and its young people," argued Sébastien Gagnon of the Bloc Québécois, adding that the province of Quebec has made access a priority by freezing tuition fees.

"At the federal level, we want to protect education as a provincial jurisdiction, but we would support the introduction of federal tax credits on student debt repayments," Gagnon said.

Canadian Alliance Party member James Rajotte said the federal government should ensure that post-secondary education is accessible, is of high quality, and that there are opportunities for students upon graduation.

"The Canadian Alliance believes that the federal government should increase its transfers for post-secondary education and provide more tax relief for students and their families," Rajotte said.

He also proposed the Canada Student Loan Program be converted into an income contingent loan system whereby students would repay their loans based on their employment earnings after graduation.

An income contingent loan system would escalate debt levels, student representatives argued.

"Basing repayment on income is a bad idea because it means the less you make the more you'll actually pay," said Joel Duff, Ontario chair of the Canadian Federation of Students. "Just like a car loan or a mortgage, the faster you pay off your debt the less interest you pay. If you take longer to pay, you're going to have a lot more interest."


Sobering Thoughts, Networking as National Forum Concludes

James Cemmell of the National Unions of Students in Europe said new research shows the introduction of tuition fees in England has widened the "class divide" in the British universities.

"In 1991, about 13 per cent of children from Britain's lowest social class went to university," Cemmell said. "By the end of the decade, after off the Blair government introduced tuition fees and abolished the student grant program, this figure fell to 7 per cent. At the same time, participation from the highest social classes jumped from 55 to 72 per cent."

In a roundtable discussion, delegates agreed there was a needto continue working together.

"In health care, we had to build a broad coalition to put the issue of medicare on the public agenda," noted Kathleen Connors, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

Andrew Jones, executive director of the Canadian Dental Association, suggested there may be a need for a similar coalition on the issue of access to post-secondary education.

"I think there is a need for us to continue this dialogue so that we as a country can get back to the values that are important to us," said Dana Hanson, president of the Canadian Medical Association.