Press Releases

For Immediate Release: September 14^th 2011

(Halifax) – University students in Nova Scotia are returning to classes in the only Canadian province to reduce operating funding to universities this year. The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA) released a report today to remind the government that public spending in post-secondary education is an investment with predictable economic and social returns, and not simply a cost to be contained.

A copy of the report will be sent to each member of the legislative assembly.

Key Points from the report

Social Impact

• Individuals with higher education are more likely to vote, volunteer, donate blood, give charitably, purchase earth friendly products, reduce their energy use and express openness to the opinions of other people.
• Individuals with higher education are less likely to be arrested, incarcerated or commit criminal offenses
• The cost of keeping a criminal in prison for two years ($204,000) is more than the government will ever spend subsidizing a citizen’s elementary, secondary and undergraduate education ($177,530).

Public Spending and Revenue Collection

• University degree holders made up just 22 per cent of the Canadian population in 2008, yet contributed 41 per cent of all income tax and received only 14 per cent of government transfers.

Health

• Individuals with higher education are more likely to report their health as very good or excellent and are more efficient in their use of health knowledge
• These individuals are less likely to smoke, have narcotics addictions, to be obese and are more likely to exercise.

Economic Impact

• Nova Scotia universities are responsible for an annual contribution of $968 million in gross domestic product, $227 million in tax revenue, $4.3 billion in economic output, $805.2 million in spending.
• Universities directly and indirectly support 17,000 jobs

Research

• Universities are the main research hubs in the region, attracting 61% of all research activity and more than $125 million in funding.
• Excellence in research allows Nova Scotian to attract top researchers, academics and business to the province to further develop the provincial economy.

Pull Quotes

“The benefits we’ve illustrated will only be realized if we maintain and improve the quality and accessibility of our university system. In cutting funding to education at every level, our government is starving the goose that lays the golden egg.

- Mark Coffin, Executive Director, ANSSA

“The government of Nova Scotia has the opportunity to improve the accessibility of the university system in Nova Scotia as they create a long term funding agreement and tuition policy over the next four months. A more educated Nova Scotia will be a healthier, safer, more law-abiding and more civically engaged Nova Scotia.”

-       Kyle Power, Chair, ANSSA

The report “ANSWERS: Higher education’s role as a catalyst for social and economic progress in Nova Scotia” is available here.

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The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations

2^nd Floor 1673 Barrington St. Halifax, NS B3J 1Z9. (902) 422-4068

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Improvements to Student Aid a Positive Step, Program Still Requires Tweaking

(Halifax) – Students intending to fund their education with government student loans will graduate with less debt in the coming years. Student representatives from the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA) are pleased with the spirit of this and other improvements to student assistance announced in Tuesday’s budget address.

The debt cap of $28,560 will be phased in incrementally over the next four years. It will apply only to new loans taken out and will take effect upon the successful completion of a student’s program of study.

A study from the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission released earlier this year revealed that 73 per cent of graduates in the Maritimes left their first degree with an average of $37,013 in debt. A third of these individuals borrowed $45,000 or more to study.

“A debt cap at this level will do a great deal to help students who would otherwise be graduating with a huge amount of debt,” says Mark Coffin, Executive Director of the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations. “The slow phase in of the cap, and the completion criteria required to apply the cap are concerning, but nonetheless it is positive the government is moving in this direction.”

Other improvements in the student assistance program include the following:

a modest increase of weekly maximum assistance rates by $10/week

A doubling of the in-study earnings exemption on student loans from $50 to $100 per week

An increase in the textbook allowance, of $500 annually

Currently there are 2,275 students in Nova Scotia whose annual recognized need outweighs the maximum amount of available assistance by an average of $2,043. An additional ten dollars per week will do little to help these students as the cost of tuition and other goods continues to rise. Students across Nova Scotia had a collective unmet need of 4.65 million dollars in 2009.

“The announcements made about student assistance on Tuesday will, without a doubt, help students,” adds Coffin. “However, there is much more work needed improve student assistance.”

“We are hopeful the government will continue to cooperate with students to work towards our hope of having the best student assistance program in the country.”

In addition to student assistance reforms, ANSSA is hopeful that the government will take other measures to improve access to post-secondary education.

Early outreach programs like Pathways to Education and effective communication strategies about the nature of student assistance available are critical pieces of the puzzle as well. These tools are necessary to encourage first-generation post-secondary students and debt averse individuals to enroll.

Other items in the budget address included a previously announced four per cent cut in funding for the universities and permitting tuition to rise by up to three per cent for the foreseeable future.

ANSSA looks forward to participating in meetings to help shape the next funding agreement for universities that will span 2012 – 2015. Student representatives will be working to ensure the assistance measures announced Tuesday will not simply be used to cushion the blow of even greater tuition increases in future years.

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For More Information Please Contact:

Mark Coffin Executive Director

Tel: 902.433.4068 Email: ed@anssa.ca

The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations

2^nd Floor 1673 Barrington St. Halifax, NS B3J 1Z9. (902) 422-4068

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Students grade university announcement as incomplete, hopeful that a late submission will improve grades on accessibility

(Halifax) – Elected student representatives have mixed feelings about Tuesday’s announcement on tuition and university funding from the Minister of Advanced Education. Students are concerned about the decision to allow tuitions to increase, but hopeful that promised student assistance reforms will more than offset this increase for the province’s neediest students.

The government plan includes the removal of the tuition freeze introduced by the previous government and the introduction of a cap that will allow increases in tuition by up to three percent. There will be a 4 per cent cut to the universities’ operating grant, which equates to almost $ 14 Million in reduced funding, while the costs of operating a university continue to rise.

“Students will be expected to pay more into a system that continues to be underfunded by government,” says Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations Chairman, Rob LeForte. “Nova Scotia will continue to have the lowest per-student funding in Canada.”

The government has also renewed the provincial bursary program that, if lost, would have resulted in an additional 22 per cent jump in tuition fees for students originally from Nova Scotia.

“This is a significant investment from government that we hope to see continued, not just next year, but also in future years,” added LeForte.

The government reaffirmed their commitment to reform student assistance, after acknowledging this fall that the program is one of the weakest in the country. No firm details have been provided in this announcement, but student representatives have been assured a follow-up meeting will happen by the end of the month.

“The danger is in the unknown right now,” worries ANSSA Executive Director, Mark Coffin. “We can’t say that students will be better served under this plan, but our hope is that the improvements will be generous enough that students will be more than protected from tuition increases by student aid improvements.”

“Right now Nova Scotia has one of the worst student assistance programs in North America and the most debt-ridden graduates in the country,” adds Coffin.

“Investments in universities and in programs that reduce student debt will make us more economically competitive as a province and make young people more likely to live, work and invest in our local economies. We can’t think of these investments as a cost to be contained as in other areas of government spending.”

Students are encouraged by the Minister’s commitment to invite students to discussions to develop the next three year funding arrangement for universities that will take effect in 2012.

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For More Information Please Contact:

Mark Coffin Executive Director

Tel: 902.422.4068 Email ed@anssa.ca

The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations

2^nd Floor 1673 Barrington St. Halifax, NS B3J 1Z9. (902) 422-4068

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Government keeps O’Neill, leaves students in the dark

(Halifax) – The Nova Scotia government continues to pay for advice from Dr. Tim O’Neill, the author of a controversial report calling for unregulated increases in tuition fees. The government contracted the extended services of the former bank executive almost two months prior to the public release of his report on the university system. The Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations (ANSSA) has retrieved a copy of O’Neill’s contract through the government’s Routine Access Policy.

Representatives from ANSSA are angered at what appears to be the government’s silent adoption of the report’s recommendation to increase tuition fees.

“There has been a near universal rejection of O’Neill’s recommendations on tuition from students, faculty, and even some university administrators,” says ANSSA Chair, Rob LeForte. “Why is the government continuing to seek counsel from the author of a report that, if implemented, would have dire consequences for students and the province as a whole?

According to his contract, the major tasks expected of O’Neill between August and December are to provide advice on communication of his report’s findings and to act as an advisor for the preparation and negotiation of a new funding agreement with universities.

Between now and the beginning of April, the government is expected to negotiate a new agreement as the existing one will expire at the end of March. The current agreement provides adequate funding to freeze tuition for all students.

Student representatives held membership seats on the government steering committee that developed the current funding agreement, but students are wondering if they will continue to be a part of the process.

When asked about the issue in Question Period last Wednesday, Minister of Education, Marilyn More, gave no indication that students would be a part of the group negotiating the next funding agreement.

“It appears the government is more interested in working with Tim O’Neill than working with students,” observes Executive Director of ANSSA, Mark Coffin.

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For More Information Please Contact:

Mark Coffin Executive Director

Tel: 902.422.4068 Email ed@anssa.ca