Media Advisory - Students available to comment on 2012 Ontario Budget vote

TORONTO, June 19, 2012 /CNW/ - Representatives of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario will be available to comment on the 2012 Ontario Budget immediately following the final vote in the Ontario legislature on Wednesday, June 20. Students in Ontario will face the seventh consecutive tuition fee increase this coming September.

Students have been calling on the Liberal government to turn the Ontario Tuition Grant into a tuition fee reduction for all students. For every new $1 that is invested into student financial assistance in the 2012 Ontario Budget, $1.20 is being clawed back from students' pockets through tuition fee increases and cuts to nine scholarship, bursary and grant programs.

JUST THE FACTS:
At $6,640 for undergraduate and $7,578 for graduate students, tuition fees in Ontario are the highest in Canada.

National student debt will reach $15 billion this past year. Students in Ontario can borrow up to $29,200 over four years in public student loans. The average student debt, including private loans, is $37,000 for a four-year degree.

Ontario has the lowest per student funding in Canada. At $10,222, Ontario spends $3,500 less per student on post-secondary education than the Canadian median and $15,000 less per student than Alberta, the province with the highest per student funding.

Students' analysis of the 2012 Ontario Budget and tuition fee announcement can be found here.

Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario responds to 2012 Ontario Budget vote:

DATE:	Wednesday, June 20, 2012
TIME:	Immediately following final vote in the Ontario legislature
WHO:	Sarah Jayne King, Chairperson: 647-339-4070
	Toby Whitfield, National Executive Representative: 647-531-2417

The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario unites more than 300,000 college and university students in all regions of the province.

 

Sarah Jayne King, Chairperson: 647-339-4070 
Toby Whitfield, National Executive Representative: 647-531-2417