Unclear who will shoulder tuition cuts

Universities, colleges face $440 million in lost revenue

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. For colleges, the amount is about $80 million.

The government is also expected to change the OSAP student aid system, which provided “free tuition” for 230,000 postsecondary 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. “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 by10 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 2020-2021 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. Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he wants to be “optimistic that lower tuition fees will support students, but the jury is still out” and is worried about it being “an excuse for cuts to student aid or college and university budgets.”

He said “until the government announces all of its changes, we won’t know if this is yet another instance of (Premier Doug Ford) offering a shiny penny to distract from deeper cuts.”

Glover said Ontario’s post-secondary system has the lowest funding levels of all provinces and wonders about the impact on low-income students.

In December, Ontario’s auditor general said the cost of the free-tuition plan would soon hit $2 billion a year, or 50 per cent higher than estimated.

Bonnie Lysyk also said there was no followup to ensure that the program, which provides non-repayable grants to qualifying students, was actually boosting the number of low-income students in the province’s colleges and universities. She also said there was no way to ensure that mature students receiving the grants were needy.

Student leaders and post-secondary institutions were waiting for more details on the Ford government’s plans before commenting.