Michelle Mungall
MLA Nelson-Creston

Having just toured the province to listen to British Columbians about their priorities for BC’s 2010 Budget, I heard a common tale from students, faculty and post-secondary institutions. It’s a scary story that will spook you and the future of BC’s workforce. Student debt is skyrocketing in BC, making post-secondary education a debt sentence for the very people we are relying on to fill the province’s skilled labour shortages.

Most people with post-secondary education and training do tend to make better wages than those who don’t have such education. That being the case, most British Columbians agree that some level of student debt is acceptable because graduating students will be able to pay off the debt in a reasonable timeframe without much hardship. But that’s just the issue at hand, the level of student debt has gotten to the point that it is creating hardship and graduates are not able participate in the regular activities that drive economies.

$27,000 is the average BC student debt after a four-year program. Only the Maritimes beat BC for the highest student debt load. In 2001, the average was $18,500—the lowest in Canada.

There are two core reasons student debts have escalated in the last eight years. First, tuition has increased from the second lowest in Canada in 2001 to 10% higher than the national average today. When the BC Liberals deregulated tuition in 2002, while also cutting operational funding to post-secondary schools, the schools had no choice but to increase tuition fees. So up they went, and BC lost its reputation for accessible post-secondary education and training.

Alongside this increase in tuition, the BC Liberals added the second factor that has negatively impacted student debt load. They cut student grants, bringing us to dead last in Canada for student grants. This summer, they made it worse but cutting $17 million from 35 programs. Some of those programs targeted the areas, such as healthcare, in which we have a major skills shortage, but now they no longer exist.

Compound this with higher living costs, lack of affordable housing and lack of employment opportunities and you have a perfect storm for a debt sentence. Unlike a natural disaster, this disaster was foreseeable and intentional.

This is simply not the way to prepare for the future. Reducing post-secondary accessibility at a time when BC is facing a skilled labour shortage is negligent and bad planning. British Columbians want to get the skills to fill the shortage and are applying to schools for the training. But many are withdrawing from programs because they can no longer carry the debt burden. A Canadian study done for the Millennium Scholarship Foundation found that as student debt rose to $10,000 per year of schooling, program completion rates for those with only loans (and no grants) plummeted from 59% to 8%. Additionally, the Millennium Scholarship Foundation has identified the minimal grants in BC as a problem that is negatively impacting post-secondary completion.

Others avoid starting classes because of the costs and aversion to debt. Financial concerns are the number one reason people don’t enrol or withdraw before even starting. This is particularly the case for Aboriginal and immigrant learners, as well as what the President of UBC calls “first generation learners” –people who would be the first person in their family to attend post-secondary to break the generational cycle of poverty.

Those who complete their programs with massive debts struggle with finding housing they can afford on top of loan payments. Presenters to the Select Standing Finance Committee talked about post-secondary graduates’ inability to meaningfully participate in the economy by doing normal things, like buying their first homes, vehicles, investments—the very things that drive our economy.

As someone with two degrees and a fair chunk of student loans, I can speak from personal experience about my own financial struggles with debt loads after graduation. It isn’t easy, and there is a better way.

Post-secondary education is good for the economy and increases revenue to BC. For every dollar put into BC Colleges, BC coffers get $3.80 back. The economic impact of UBC is $100 for every taxpayer dollar. When we invest in people, we invest in our province. So let’s do that.

The scary stories of student debt sentences don’t need any more sequels. Let’s change the script. I’m on board and the NDP is on board. Keep up the pressure and we can reinvigorate local investment by investing in ourselves and our future.