University graduates pay the costs of their education “and more,” according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The report entitled
Paid in Full: Who Pays for University Education in B.C. found that graduates overpay as a result of upfront tuition fees and taxes paid over their working lives.
“Graduates earn more and pay higher income taxes as a result,” said Iglika Ivanova, an economist with the CCPA and the author of the report. “The extra tax revenues are, in effect, a form of payment that students make for their education and should be recognized as such.”
Women with an undergraduate degree contribute on average $106,000 more in taxes over the course of their careers than those with only a high school diploma, said the report. University-educated men contribute $159,000 more.
The cost of a four-year undergraduate degree in British Columbia is $50,630.
The report also said government’s current approach to financing post-secondary education through increasing tuition fees hampers access and continuation for those facing financial barriers, and calls for a rethink on how the system is funded.
Zach Crispin, chairperson of the BC chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students, says high tuition fees are unnecessary and unfair.
“Upfront student payment for education — in the form of tuition fees — should be reduced,” he said. “Education funding should instead be recouped through the additional taxes paid by university graduates through increases in progressive taxes.”
The CCPA report recommends expanding public investments in post-secondary education, noting that such investments have significant monetary and non-monetary benefits in the form of lower unemployment, higher income taxes, and reduced social and economic inequalities.
“Society as a whole reaps a substantial payoff from higher education from an accessible and high-quality post-secondary education system,” said Cindy Oliver, president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC.
“Expanding public investment in university education is economically feasible and it will ensure we are well-positioned to succeed in the knowledge economy.”
The report released by CCPA stresses the advantage of a progressive taxation system as a means of financing post-secondary education in creating a distributional effect over the pool of all graduates.
“While those with post-secondary degrees and certificates earn more on average, some individuals will earn less than the average high school graduate,” the report said. “A progressive income tax system is sensitive to those individual differences.”