Minister Supports University Students
Nova Scotia's post-secondary students have an ally in their provincial government.
"Students have legitimate concerns about rising tuition fees and debt loads," said Ms. Purves. "I share these concerns and I'm advocating on behalf of students to address them."
In the past two years, the provincial government has increased operating grants to universities by $9 million, bringing total funding to $201 million. Despite the increase, Nova Scotia universities continued to raise tuition fees and now have the highest tuition in the country.
The Department of Education is exploring ways of offering a student debt-management program to help those with high debt loads. Students have been consulted on several options. A decision will be made through the budget process.
"We want to do more to help students manage their debt loads effectively," said Ms. Purves. "Our challenge is to provide a student debt-management program at a time when our financial resources are extremely limited."
The minister noted that because the federal government has not kept its commitments to health care across the country, the provincial government is forced to funnel more money into health rather than other areas, including post-secondary education. Since 1993, the federal government has cut $1 billion in transfer payments to Nova Scotia for health care, post-secondary education and other social programs.
"It's a daily struggle to try to get funding for any area of government responsibility other than health," said Ms. Purves. "If the federal government kept up its end of the bargain, we would be able to do more for post-secondary students in Nova Scotia."
Nova Scotia already has the highest proportion, 28 per cent, of out-of-province university students of any province in Canada. With Ontario's decision to eliminate Grade 13, Nova Scotia could see even more post-secondary students coming to its institutions. The province wants a bilateral agreement with Ottawa that would recognize the provincial government's costs in educating out-of- province students.
"Our institutions educate a large number of students from outside the province, yet we receive federal funding based on the number of Nova Scotians attending our universities," said Ms. Purves. "We believe the federal government should acknowledge our unique position of educating Canadians, not just Nova Scotians."
Nova Scotia has also been pushing Ottawa to increase the combined family income cut-off for student loan eligibility to a level that would give more students access to government-sponsored financial assistance.
About 50 per cent of students attending university in the province have student loans. The average student debt after a four-year undergraduate program is $22,000. Nova Scotia students have access to some debt relief through the federal Millennium Scholarship Foundation and provincial interest relief.
Ms. Purves will meet with student leaders from the province's universities and community colleges next week. The minister meets with student leaders twice a year to discuss their concerns and ideas for improving post-secondary education in Nova Scotia.