Proposals from a government-led review process underway in New Brunswick could see greater integration of the province’s college and university system and a regressive income contingent loan repayment plan for students.

The proposals come out of a discussion paper released last month by the Commission on Post-Secondary Education that also calls for a strategy to increase college and university enrolment in the province.

“The commission’s paper is clearly biased on several fronts,” said CAUT president Greg Allain. “We are particularly dismayed by the focus on rationalizing programs and the move towards income contingent loans.”

Income contingent loans are generally unsubsidized loans tied to a student’s post-graduation income. The scheme massively inflates the cost of an education for those who borrow the most because under income contingent schemes loan interest compounds for up to 25 years. In addition, the introduction of income contingent loans in the United Kingdom and Australia facilitated a massive increase in tuition fees.

“New Brunswick has both very high tuition fees and the lowest per capita funding for colleges and universities in the country,” Allain said. “The focus of this commission must be on reducing costs for students and their families and improving per student funding. If the province is serious about increasing enrolment for under-represented groups it should move to reduce tuition fees and augment the grants.”

Average tuition fees in New Brunswick are the second highest in the country at $5,328. A recent study by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission reports average student debt in Atlantic Canada stands at more than $28,000.

The commission’s report raises the issue of greater collaboration between universities and colleges. It acknowledges the lack of provincial research funding and suggests some universities could focus primarily on teaching at the expense of research. It also suggests moving to a university-college style system like the one in place in British Columbia.

“There is a lot of talk in the paper about rationalization and labour market outcomes, but very little discussion about the historical and cultural mandate of New Brunswick universities,” Allain said. “One of the strengths of the New Brunswick system is the historic mandate that many of our institutions carry to reach out to specific communities and we need a significant reinvestment in research funding to strengthen that mandate.”

He also warns of the report’s excessive focus on economic outcomes. “If implemented, the report suggestions for increased business involvement in universities would undermine the independence of university senates,” Allain said. “And the focus on labour market outcomes may actually undermine what universities do best, which is teaching students to think critically.”

The commission, headed by Rick Miner, president of Seneca College and a former vice-president academic of the University of New Brunswick, and Jacques L’Écuyer, founding chairman of the Commission d’évaluation de l’enseignement collegial of Quebec, is seeking stakeholders’ input from public consultation meetings across the province this month, and has committed to report its findings to the premier this summer.