The rising costs of education  may soon be putting post-secondary education out-of-reach for many working people and their families.

In Alberta, household expenditures in post-secondary tuition increased by 128.7% between 1992 and 1998 – from $1009 to $2308 (all in 1998$). Alberta university students pay the third highest total fees in Canada. In 1992 a BA student in Alberta paid total fees of $2777. By 1999 that had risen to $4212.

This is clearly the consequence of federal and provincial governments transferring the costs of post-secondary education from the public purse to the student.

Alberta per capita expenditures on post-secondary education fell from $715 in 1989/90 to $300 in 1997/98 (constant 1977$). At the same time federal per capita support for Alberta’s post secondary institutions fell from $490 million per year to $340 million per year.

What is the problem with making students pay for their own education?

First, do we want a society where access to education is determined by your family income? This would mean, inevitably, that bright, deserving youth from poor and middle income families would be denied access to higher technical and professional educations.

Secondly, isn’t it true that our whole society benefits as the overall education and skill levels of our citizens improves? Many countries provide free post-secondary education because they see it as an investment rather than an expenditure.

Student Debt

The average student debt has been increasing steadily in Alberta. An average student completing a two-year college or technical school program graduated holding an $8,977 debt in 1999. For a student finishing a 4-year undergraduate program, the average debt is $17,360.

The ongoing cutbacks to post-secondary funding by both the Liberals (federally) and the Conservatives (provincially) is either saddling young Albertans with a mountain of debt as they enter the job market – or simply discouraging them from higher education altogether.

The Municipal Funding Issue

The Alberta Federation of Labour believes that only an informed electorate will keep our democracy healthy.
With big business dominating the mass media, it is essential that alternate, reliable information be available to working people -- so that they can cast their ballots in their own best interest. As part of the effort to provide that information, the AFL has put together this political action kit for union members. It contains fact sheets on key issues that each local can either distribute to members, schedule into regular meetings, or make use of in part or in whole as they see fit.