University Students Urge Major Parties to Make Post-Secondary a Priority in Provincial Election

TORONTO, May 13, 2014 /CNW/ - The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is pleased to release An Educated Election: Ontario's Student Platform, the student vision for the future of post-secondary education in Ontario. Undergraduates have designed a series of recommendations that if adopted by Ontario's political parties, will better ensure that all willing and qualified students are able to access a university education.

"Students are concerned with a lack of focus on post-secondary education priorities by all major parties thus far during the provincial election," said Jennifer Carter, OUSA Steering Committee Member from Western University. "Investments in post-secondary education will address many of the challenges that all parties have rightly identified concerning Ontario's economic prosperity and high youth unemployment."

An Educated Election: Ontario's Student Platform focuses on five major PSE recommendations primarily designed to address the decreasing affordability and accessibility of a undergraduate degree in Ontario. Recommendations include a one year tuition freeze coupled with increased funding for universities, the conversion of education and tuition related tax credits into upfront grants available students when they need them most, the extension of financial aid eligibility to students studying part-time, increased co-operative education opportunities to prepare students for the labour market, and the creation of open-access education resources and textbooks for faculty and students.

"Despite rapidly rising student contributions to the cost of a university degree, students have not seen the increases in education quality they would expect given rising tuition rates and associated educational costs," said Stéphane Hamade, OUSA Steering Committee Member from the University of Waterloo. "Students believe that this provincial election presents an ideal opportunity for all parties to begin to address these shortcomings and work towards creating a more affordable and accessible higher education system for the province."

To read An Educated Election: Ontario's Student Platform, click here.

About the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

OUSA represents the interests of almost 140,000 professional and undergraduate, full- and part-time university students at seven member associations across Ontario.

SOURCE: Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Brandon Sloan, Director of Communications.

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