Increases in university tuition fees are having a devastating effect on low-income families in Canada, says a CAUT report released in June.

“It’s shocking that the poorest Canadian families have to devote more than 67 per cent of their after-tax income to pay for one year of tuition fees for one child to attend university,” said CAUT president Greg Allain.

The Economics of Access: The Fiscal Reality of PSE Costs for Low-Income Families examines tuition costs as a proportion of after-tax family income for different income groups. The study ranks the provinces on the basis of an equity index with Newfoundland and Labrador having the best ranking and Nova Scotia the worst.

According to the report, highest-income families would have had to devote 2.8 per cent of after-tax income to average undergraduate arts tuition fees in 1980. By 2004, that had risen to 7.5 per cent.

By contrast, lowest-income families saw their share of after-tax income needed to pay for tuition rise from 16.7 per cent in 1980 to nearly 46 per cent in 2004.

“The reality is that low-income families in most provinces simply don’t have the resources or access to credit needed to finance a post-secondary education at today’s costs,” Allain said. “This report confirms warnings about financial barriers shutting out low-income families from colleges and universities.”

“Contrary to those who would argue that low tuition fees are regressive because students from high income families are overrepresented in the system, this report offers empirical evidence that the poorest Canadians bear the biggest burden in shouldering fee hikes,” the study concludes.

“When fees rise, access is imperiled for students from low and modest income families. A more equitable alternative is a collectively-funded system of post-secondary education with a generous system of non-repayable student financial assistance.”