Facilitating Access to PostSecondary Education in Canada

1
Facilitating Access to Post-Secondary Education
in Canada
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PSE in Canada is a Success

• Canada has one of the highest PSE attainment
  rates in the world.
• 43 of Canadians (25-64) have completed some form
  of PSE
• 54 increase since 1991, almost double the OECD
  average of 23
• Enrolment is rising
• Colleges by 24 in the last decade
• University enrolment at an all time high of
  nearly 100,000
• Graduate enrolment grew by 12.6 from 1997 to
  2001
• Enrolment will continue to rise
• Over 93 of Canadian parents of children aged 0
  to 18 hope that their children will pursue PSE

Percentage of Population 25-64 who had completed
PSE, 2003
Source OECD Education at a Glance 2005
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However, Barriers Limit Access

• Low-Income
• Only 50 likely to attend university due to
  financial issues and perceptions of affordability
• Rural
• Distance and income
• New Canadians
• Prior Learning Recognition, literacy and
  essential skills
• Aboriginal
• Income and academic un-preparedness (e.g.
  literacy and essential skills)
• Family responsibilities (tend to be older)
• Cultural differences
• Persons with Disabilities
• Higher costs and higher need
• Inadequate infrastructure and accessibility (e.g.
  transportation)
• Adult Learners

Source Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics
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and Concerns about Capacity and Quality

• Core funding pressures may be affecting system
  capacity and quality
• Deferred maintenance at universities estimated at
  3.6B
• Less than half of college training equipment is
  considered up to date
• Increasing class sizes
• Greater focus on part-time sessional staff
• Faculty retirements loom and enrolments projected
  to steadily increase
• More than half of the teaching staff in PSE are
  over age 50
• 20,000 new faculty needed by the end of the
  decade (up to 30 of faculty)
• Shift to RD funding privileges universities over
  colleges
• Some key outcomes are unsatisfactory
• Colleges have not been successful at impacting
  literacy and essential skill levels
• Canada produces fewer PhDs graduates per capita
  than the US

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Student Financial AssistanceA Multi-lateral
Partnership

• Student Financial Assistance in Canada is a
  combination of targeted and universal supports
  provided by federal, provincial, and private
  sources
• Subsidized Government Student Loans
• Grants / Bursaries for target groups
• Scholarships for high-merit students
• Asset-based programs
• Savings Incentives
• Tax measures
• Government of Canada fund capacity through
  unconditional block transfers
• Canada Social Transfer
• Government looking into a dedicated PSE and
  training transfer

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Canada Students Loans Program

• Canada Student Loans Program promotes
  accessibility to PSE by lowering financial
  barriers through loans and grants targeted at
  Canadians with demonstrated financial need
• Approximately 340,000 recipients per year,
  receiving 1.6B in loans
• Approximately 41 of all current full-time PSE
  students have a Canada Student Loan
• 70 of students with loans said they would not
  have went to PSE without financial support
• Financial need is demonstrated using the
  following needs assessment
• Assessed Need Costs (Living Education)
  Resources (Student Parental)
• CSLP is delivered in partnership and close
  collaboration with ten participating provinces
  and territories
• CSLP award limits are 210 per week of study for
  full-time students
• Provincial and territorial award limits range
  from 140 - 165 per week
• CSLP provides loans and grants to meet 60 of a
  students assessed need, leaving 40 for
  provinces and territories to finance

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Canada Students Loans Program

• During studies, loans are
• Interest-free for full-time students repayment
  starts 6 months after leaving school
• Interest payable for part-time students
• Interest begins to accumulate once studies end
• Loans are typically amortized over 9.5 years
• Interest rate is fixed rate (prime 5) or
  variable rate (prime 2.5)
• Debt management programs exist for borrowers who
  have difficulties in repayment.
• Repayment can be deferred interest free for
  qualifying borrowers in difficulty for up to 54
  months
• CSLP also provides additional non-repayable
  assistance to disadvantaged groups including
• Students from low-income families
• Students with dependants
• Students with permanent disabilities

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Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation

• Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF)
  is an independent organization created by an act
  of Parliament in 1998 with an endowment of 2.5B
  to be disbursed by 2009/10
• Objectives of the foundation are to
• Improve access to postsecondary education and
• Encourage a high level of student achievement and
  engagement in Canadian society
• CMSF distributes 300M annually in the form of
  bursaries and 25Min scholarships throughout
  Canada
• CMSF bursaries are given to undergraduate
  students who demonstrate high need as assessed
  by the CSLP
• Average bursary is around 3,000 and reduces a
  students annual debt
• Scholarships range from 4,000 - 10,000 per year
• Scholarship award winners do not have to be
  eligible for a Canada Student Loan

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Canada Education Savings Program

• Canada Education Savings Program (CESP)
  encourages families to save for their childrens
  education in Registered Education Savings Plans
  (RESP) through the provision of Canada Education
  Savings Grants and Canada Learning Bonds.
• RESP savings can be used to pay for full and/or
  part-time studies in an apprenticeship program,
  trade school, CEGEP, college or university.
• Savings in RESPs grow tax free until the child
  enrols in post-secondary education.
• The Canada Education Grants adds 20 - 40 (based
  on family income) to the first 2,000 in annual
  RESP contributions for eligible beneficiaries
  0-17 years old.
• Children born after 2003 into low-income families
  are also are entitled to receive a 500 Canada
  Learning Bond at birth to start an RESP.

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Post-Secondary Supports for Aboriginal Canadians

• Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
  Development operates PSE SFA for First Nations
  and Inuit consisting of
• Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP)
• University College Entrance Preparation Program
  (UCEPP)
• Indian Studies Support Program (ISSP)
• PSSSP and UCEP programs support eligible First
  Nation and Inuit students with tuition fees,
  books, travel and living allowances when
  applicable
• ISSP is a proposal-driven program
• It supports post-secondary institutes in program
  development and delivery.
• Government of Canada has provided endowments to
  the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation,
  which provides grants, scholarships and bursaries
  to all Aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit,
  Métis, and non-Status Indians)
• Federal/Provincial/Territorial governments have
  agreed to work with Aboriginal leaders to develop
  strategies to improve Aboriginal peoples
  education outcomes

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Universal Federal Tax Measures

• GoC offers a variety of universal tax credits
• Tuition Fee Credit equal to eligible tuition
  expenses
• Education Tax Credit equal to 400 per month
  for full-time students and 120 per month for
  part-time students
• Interest Paid equal to the interest portion of
  Canada Student Loan payments
• First 3,000 of an individuals scholarship and
  bursary income is tax exempt
• Tax credits are equal to the lowest marginal tax
  rate (currently 15)
• Credits are non-refundable, but in some cases can
  be transferred to a parent or spouse or carried
  forward indefinitely to be applied in a future
  tax year
• All provinces treat tuition tax credits in the
  same manner as the GoC

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Addressing Non-Financial Barriers

• Only modest investments have been made toward
  reducing non-financial barriers (e.g. social
  capital barriers, informational barriers,
  cultural barriers)
• However, there is no single national approach
• Some pilot projects are in place (e.g. New
  Brunswick CMSF, Manitoba) to address
  non-financial barriers
• Some colleges and universities have also
  developed programs
• Access Programs have been introduced in Manitoba,
  providing counselling and academic support to
  ease the transition to post-secondary education
• Student Support Centres (e.g., First Nations
  House of Learning at the University of British
  Columbia) serve as a community within a community
  and provide counseling and mentoring supports to
  alleviate feelings of isolation and cope with the
  academic pressures

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Way Forward More Responsive System of Student
Aid

• Create a balanced approach to address access and
  affordability challenges
• Strengthen and expand PSE accessibility supports
• Adjust SFA to better reflect ongoing
  affordability challenges
• Improve debt management measures
• Extend and expand grants to facilitate access by
  disadvantaged groups
• Increase and enhance measures to address
  non-financial barriers should be increased
• Provide more timely and relevant information
• Expand outreach programs nationally
• Recognize innovative pathways to learning (e.g.,
  PLAR)
• Modernize the delivery of student financial
  assistance (e.g., e-enabled client centered
  delivery)

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and Taking Action to Meet Objectives in
Learning, Social Policy,

• Lifelong Learning
• Demographics and knowledge-based economy
  necessitate that the PSE system is responsive to
  wider range of learners (e.g., more mature
  learners, Aboriginal people, distance students,
  international students, etc.)
• Greater mobility between institutions and within
  the labour market require strategic responses
  (e.g., prior learning recognition and credit
  transfer)
• Strong foundation of literacy and essential
  skills needed for success in KBE and to promote
  social inclusion of all individuals
• Social Inclusion
• PSE institutions support changing needs of
  communities
• Higher education plays a key role in facilitating
  understanding of different perspectives in an
  increasingly diverse society
• Individuals who complete PSE have higher levels
  of participation in the labour market and society
  
• Colleges and universities are increasingly seen
  as gateways for immigrant selection and
  integration

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Innovation, and International

• Innovation and Competitiveness
• Leading-edge research and innovation is
  increasingly important to remain competitive in
  the global knowledge based economy
• Human capital development is key to improving
  Canadas overall productivity
• Institutions will continue to be hubs of local
  and regional economic development
• International
• International Policy Statement committed Canada
  to promote the internationalization of education
  through student exchange programs and direct
  institutional links.
• Increasing recognition by all levels of
  government, PSE institutions and private sector
  of importance of internationalization
• Need to improve links with immigration policy

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Current Environment

• Federally
• New government in Ottawa moving towards open
  federalism
• Funding pressures the Government of Canada
  seeking to address the fiscal imbalance
• Provincial Territorial
• Provinces collaboratively raising need for
  increased federal funding
• Council of the Federation (CoF) has identified
  need for a national skills and learning strategy
• Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC)
  coordinates provincial education ministries
• Stakeholders
• Stakeholders have been lobbying all levels of
  government to increase support to PSE
• Canadians are also increasingly attuned to PSE
  and want increased investments by all levels of
  government

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ANNEXES
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Post-Secondary Financing Shared Responsibility

• Provincial and territorial governments maintain
  strong jurisdiction over PSE
• However, the Government of Canada is a key
  partner in providing supports to learners and
  Canadas learning system.

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Federal government spending
OVERVIEW
GoC Expenditures on PSE, 2003-04

• Support focuses on four main instruments
• transfers to provinces through CST (cash portion
  for PSE estimated at approximately 2.3B)
• support to institutions for research through
  granting councils and foundations (1.5B)
• direct support to students through grants and
  loan programs (1.4B)
• support to students and their families through
  tax measures, including savings incentives
  (1.4B)
• specific support for First Nation Inuit
  students living outside the territories (301 M)
• Support has evolved over time according to
  changing needs and priorities
• biggest change in the mid-90s with a shift from
  transfers to direct support (i.e. research and
  student financial assistance)

Changes in GoC expenditures relative to the
mid-1990s ( Billions)
Billions
Note transfers only include notional
calculation of cash component
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Comparison of participation rates