With the new provincial budget now in effect, changes to post-secondary education spending are helping students, but some say not enough.
The new budget tabled April 22 included a 2.5 per cent cut in interest rates on student loans, bringing them down to prime, doubling part-time earning exemptions from $400 to $800, no scholarship restrictions on loan calculations and increased loan limits to $13,000.
University of Calgary Students’ Union vice-president external Alastair MacKinnon was generally pleased with the progress made on several Council of Alberta University Students lobby points.
“[The provincial government] increased our allowances by five per cent, which is a good recognition of the fact that it is very expensive to live and be a student,” said MacKinnon. “However, we were rather disappointed that they didn’t have any money specifically dedicated to affordable housing because that’s one of our big pushes.”
Alberta Advanced Education and Technology spokesperson Kevin Donnan said the focus of the $13.4 million to loans and $7.3 million to scholarships was affordability.
“What it’s going to do is put more money in students’ pockets,” he said. “Affordability is not just about tuition, it encompasses a comprehensive initiative. We want to be ahead of this thing instead of being reactive.”
While Donnan mentioned future goals include introducing vehicle exemptions and incentive grants for underrepresented groups such as aboriginal students, MacKinnon’s main concern was overlooked.
“We want funding for dedicated student housing, which most directly lends itself to student residences,” said MacKinnon. “We need more spaces. They did take away some of the barriers to accessing financial aid but not all of them.”
MacKinnon also mentioned the lack of assistance for rising tuition costs.
U of C alumni Susan Lamola, who graduated in 2006, was pleased to hear of the changes after her recent experience with the Alberta students’ assistance program. She stressed that the loans were enough to cover her post-secondary expenses, but part-time work was still a necessity. Lamola noted more grants, instead of loans, and a longer period between graduation and loan repayment would help.
“I know a lot of students have a hard time in some faculties finding work right away, so it would just be easy if there wasn’t that pressure,” said Lamola.
Donnan agreed that only increasing the loan limits was not enough. The increase will not lower the amount of debt at graduation or give students more time to pay back the government. He assured students that progress on the issue will continue.