Students say Tory tax credit good for those who can afford it, bad for accessibility

For Immediate Release May 10, 2009

(Halifax) – The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA), representing over 80% of the students in Nova Scotia, are responding to today’s Progressive Conservative party announcement on tax credits for registered education savings plan (RESP) investments with mixed reviews. ANSSA spokespeople acknowledge that the tax credit will provide financial assistance for families and students of middle to high income backgrounds, but will not help those families and students who don’t have the disposable income available to make RESP investments.

“Nova Scotia has had the highest tuition in Canada for the past decade,” explains ANSSA chair Emma Cullen. “This tax credit will provide relief to families who are already going to be paying too much for child’s education. Unfortunately, the tax credit will not provide any assistance to the families of students who currently aren’t participating in the Post-Secondary Education system.” Cullen outlined that many low-income families who can’t currently afford to send their children to school wouldn’t benefit from such a program because they don’t have the disposable income available to save, and their income levels dictate that any tax credit would be of negligible benefit.

The Tory announcement comes on the same day as ANSSA released their recommendations for the post-secondary education planks of party platforms. ANSSA’s report makes recommendations that address many of the problems with the higher education system in Nova Scotia While the report highlights students concerns with the current post-secondary education system, ANSSA representatives believe that the recommendations are also solutions for many of the problems Nova Scotia currently faces.

“The next government of Nova Scotia needs to tackle these problems head on,” said Cullen. “For the good of our province, and for anyone interested in pursuing a post-secondary degree, these issues are critical.”

The report calls on all parties to make the following commitments, all of which are discussed in detail in the report:

• The initiation of a comprehensive review on post-secondary education, followed by the development of a long term plan for higher education in Nova Scotia. Such a plan will serve as the blueprint for future Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) between the universities and the provinces on tuition rates and university funding
• The implementation of an access guarantee for all Nova Scotians to ensure that non eligible student is denied the right to a post-secondary education for financial reasons alone. ANSSA recommends the use of expanded grant programs, tuition reductions, early outreach programs, and student loan reform as tools to facilitate the administration of such a guarantee.
• The dedication of provincial funding to the universities to address some of the $422 Million worth of Accumulated Deferred Maintenance (ADM) at Nova Scotia Universities
• The commitment to cooperate with other provinces to actively advocate for the creation of a Pan-Canadian Accord and dedicated federal-provincial transfer for post-secondary education that allows a national plan on higher education to be developed.

Mark Coffin, Executive Director of ANSSA, hopes that the parties will recognize the importance of post-secondary education not just as an issue that is pressing for students, but as an issue that affects all Nova Scotians. “Students want a government that values education. When education costs are so high, we force our best and brightest out of the province after graduation to places where they can earn better money to better pay off their debt,” explains Coffin. “Couple that trend with an aging Nova Scotia population and a retiring workforce – that’s a recipe for economic disaster.”

The recommendations outlined in the report will serve as the grading criteria for an all-party report card to be released once party platforms on post-secondary education have been released.

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To view a copy of the report, Click Here.