About the Campaign
Costs are increasing for students. In 2022 it was reported that the Canadian Student Loans Services was owed $23.8 billion dollars in student loan debt.
The ability to get an education has become increasingly difficult, indigenous students, students of color, trans students, students with disabilities and students raised in single-parent homes have found that education has become increasingly hard to reach.
Campus administrators refuse to join students in the fight for free education, and advocate for increased public funding. Instead, administrators decide to hike up various fees to ‘compensate’ for lack of funding.
While some provincial governments have begun to make improvements on access through the introduction of needs-based grants systems, without introducing new post-secondary education funding, these student aid policy changes can only be seen as band-aid solutions to a growing problem.
Some Facts about the National State of Post-Secondary Education:
- Average tuition fees for domestic students have increased 115% for undergraduate students and 89% for graduate students over the past 20 years.
- 60% of today’s college and university students come from higher income families.
- On average, international students pay 5 times more than domestic students.
- As a result of poor research funding and high tuition fees, Canada ranks 15 out of 16 peer countries for PhD completion rates.
- Public funding for post-secondary education makes up only 54.7% of our public colleges and 47% for universities operating revenue.
- Since 1980, average undergraduate tuition fees have increased 3 times more and average graduate tuition fees have increased over 4 times more than the rate of inflation.
On November 8th 2023, your Central Student Association (in partnership with OPRIG) joined the Canadian Federation of Students on a National Day of Action at Queen’s Park to tell policy makers that Education is a right.
What Needs to be Done:
It’s time for the University of Guelph to stand with students and pressure the provincial and federal governments to prioritize post-secondary education to show that making up budget shortfalls on the backs of students is unacceptable. We need a post-secondary education system that is public and accessible.
Every April, the Board of Governors vote to increases our tuition fees by an average of $200 to $300 for most students and have been doing so for years! Massive debt, having to work while we study, and the exclusion of low-income students are the outcomes. Increasingly, students are required to foot the bill while the government refuses to adequately fund post-secondary education.
- For more information and resources visit https://www.cfs-fcee.ca/
- To see who sits on the Board of Governors and what their affiliations are please visit U of G – Board of Governors https://uoguelph.civicweb.net/portal/members.aspx?id=27
There are also 2 undergraduate student representatives on the Board of Governors who act as your voice.
Get Involved
If you or your group are interested in getting involved with this campaign, please contact our VP External Affairs [email protected] or our VP Academic [email protected]