Ontario College Students receive final post secondary education platform submissions from the Ontario's party leaders

TORONTO, June 6, 2014 /CNW/ - On May 16, 2014 the College Student Alliance (CSA) asked Ontario's party leaders to provide their post-secondary education platform pertaining to the CSA pillars: accessibility, accountability, affordability, quality and transferability.

The CSA received its third submission from the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party on May 31, 2014, in the form of a letter from Mr. Tim Hudak. To view the letter, please visit www.itsyourvote.ca.

The CSA received its final submission from the Ontario Liberal Party on June 5, 2014:

Affordability:

• New 4-year tuition framework at 3 per cent which saves an average student $1,200;
• 30 per cent off Ontario Tuition Grant for low and middle class families will provide college students with $820 in 2014-15;
• Elimination of deferral and late tuition fees; and
• Continuation of the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant which caps student debt.

Accessibility:

• Introduced the Ontario Distance Grant and the Part-Time Student Grant;
• Continue to invest in Pathways to Education and similar programs that reach out to underrepresented students in the postsecondary education system;
• Committed to replacing the current Grade 10 Careers curriculum with one that helps students explore possible careers in a more hands-on way; and
• Will work with schools, guidance counsellors, business, and labour in communities to identify Skills Champions who can mentor students throughout school toward apprenticeship and a successful career.

Accountability:

• Through the Strategic Mandate Agreements, Multi-Year Accountability Agreements and Key Performance Indicators, ensure that institutions are reporting the outcomes of their programs and students; and
• Through the Open Government initiative, make government data sets available to the public, providing an unprecedented amount of information and access.

Quality:

• Implemented new Strategic Mandate Agreements to ensure that funding is better spent on highly specialized programs that increase quality ratings;
• We will provide almost $500 million over 10 years to support deferred maintenance projects at colleges and universities; and
• Reduce duplication to allow colleges to work to their strengths;

Transferability:

• $74M in continued support of Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT);
• Creation of Course-to-Course Transfer Guide through ONTransfer.ca;
• $42M toward Ontario Online, new centre of excellence that gives students access to high-quality and transferable online courses; and
• Working towards a robust credit transfer system that provides students with the greatest opportunity for success.

The CSA would like to thank the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and the Ontario Liberal Party for their responses. Thank you, once again, to the Ontario New Democratic Party and Green Party of Ontario for their earlier participation.

Stay tuned for additional updates as we approach the June 12^th election day. To explore student priorities for Ontario's 2014 General Election please visit www.itsyourvote.ca.

The College Student Alliance (CSA) is an advocacy organization, which has been proudly serving Ontario's college students since 1975. The CSA currently represents 15 colleges and 21 student councils with over 130,000 full-time student members throughout the province.

SOURCE: College Student Alliance

Tyler Epp
Director of Advocacy
College Student Alliance
416-340-1212
[email protected]

Matt Stewart
President
College Student Alliance
226-237-0127
[email protected]