Push for higher learning will place province at head of the class

Post-secondary education leads to a healthier, more tolerant society, writes Roberta Lexier

Post-truth is the word of the year. Half of the so-called news stories circulating on social media are fabrications.

Democracy and the rule of law are threatened in many parts of the world. Alberta faces an uncertain economic, political and social future. What can be done to combat these troubling developments?

The antidote for post-truth is education. The ability to weigh and assess evidence and to verify the validity of sources is the hallmark of the university graduate. And, education is the cure for much else: statistically, it makes for a healthier, wealthier and more tolerant society and contributes to economic diversification.

This is why the fact that Alberta has the lowest post-secondary participation rate in the country is a problem in the short and, especially, the long run.

We need more higher education, not less. Yet, becoming educated has become much more expensive for Albertans in recent decades. In the 1980s, the government covered approximately 80 per cent of the cost of a university education. Today, the government contributes, depending on the institution, less than 50 per cent.

According to recent data from Statistics Canada, Alberta contributes only 1.7 per cent of GDP to post-secondary education, the lowest proportion of any province. Students are expected to shoulder a heavier burden in the form of tuition fees. This shift has decreased affordable access to higher education and has resulted in enormous debt loads for those who do attend.

In the present difficult economic times, with government budgets awash in red ink, an affordable higher education for Albertans may seem to some like a luxury we cannot afford. If we look to ensuring better times in the future, however, we cannot afford not to invest in post-secondary education.

Those Albertans who are able to make the considerable financial investment in a university education reap significant benefits, both economically and socially. Making post-secondary education more accessible and affordable will amplify and distribute these benefits more broadly.

On the economic side, people with a university degree, on average, have higher lifetime earnings than those without, to the tune of about $1 million. They pay more taxes and have more money to spend as consumers.

Universities Canada has estimated that 60 per cent of Canada’s GDP growth is attributable to the income of those with post-secondary education.

Post-secondary education leads to the diversification of the economy. It produces a highlyskilled and adaptable workforce and encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. As the recent downturn has shown, economic diversity and resiliency should be a priority for Alberta.

Socially, education has been shown to increase health and reduce crime. The health care and criminal justice systems comprise an enormous portion of the provincial budget. An investment in higher education shifts public money from these expensive programs to one with so many additional benefits. Spending money today on education saves money in health and justice later.

An educated population leads to stronger civil organizations, higher voter turnout, and a greater respect for democracy. Individuals with a university degree are also statistically more likely to volunteer and donate to charitable organizations. Moreover, post-secondary institutions contribute to the cultural and economic lives of their surrounding communities, offering many intellectual and artistic events and providing employment to a large number of individuals.

University graduates have been trained in critical thinking and have learned to analyze and solve social problems. Given the enormity of the economic, political and social challenges we face, these skills are tremendously important.

The future of the province relies on the ability of individuals to develop innovative responses to today’s problems and tomorrow’s.

Now is the time for Alberta to increase its investment in postsecondary education.