By Kristin Rushowy Queen's Park Bureau. Wed., Jan. 16, 2019
Full Article Available here.
Universities and colleges will take an estimated $440 million hit under the Ontario government’s planned 10 per cent tuition decrease — and it remains unclear if the province will make up the difference.
The tuition announcement, expected Thursday from Merrilee Fullerton, minister of training, colleges and universities, will cut and then freeze tuition rates for the next two years, a $360 million loss for universities alone. For colleges, the amount is about $80 million.
The government is also expected to make changes to the OSAP student aid system, which under the previous Liberal government provided “free tuition” for 230,000 post-secondary students.
“Students will pay for this with larger classes and fewer professors,” said New Democrat MPP Chris Glover, a former Toronto public school board trustee and York University professor, calling it a “smoke and mirrors exercise.”
“Are they going to cut OSAP grants?” added the Spadina-Fort York MPP. “Any benefits students may get from this announcement — students will end up the losers on this.”
According to government documents obtained by the Star, the province will make changes to the Tuition Free Framework, slashing rates by 10 per cent for this fall — or about $340 a year for college students, and $660 for those in universities — and will keep that rate for the 2020-1 school year.
The documents from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities say the changes will “protect students and provide a financially predictable environment” and “keep more money” in students’ pockets.
Current university tuition for undergraduate students is almost $9,000 a year.