The federal government is making hundreds of millions a year off interest fees on student loans -- getting an education costs way too much
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
MORE THAN $163 MILLION in outstanding
student-loan payments were written off this week by the federal government. The
money is owed by more than 31,000 students who can’t or won’t repay the money.
It’s the latest sorry commentary both on the
federal-provincial student loan program, and on the fact we can’t provide our
students with a university education unless -- they go deep into debt.
It
shouldn’t be that way.
Current debt under the Canada Student Loan
Program totals a staggering $28 billion to all levels of government, according
to one report. The B.C. Federation of Students says the average student loan
debt at graduation in this province is more than $30,000. Many students spend
as much as 15 years paying it back.
That is, those who do pay it back.
To be sure, a small amount of the problem
involves fraud on the part of students who borrow the money and simply don’t
try to repay it. But the bigger reason is that university tuition, books and
living expenses are so steep that students simply can’t make enough through
summer and part-time jobs to pay for their education.
According to the Canadian Federation of
Students, the federal government is making hundreds of millions a year off
interest fees on student loans.
Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC |
In short, getting an education costs way too
much. Both the Canadian and B.C. student federations are demanding that
interest rates be dropped entirely on student loans, and some provinces have
already done that on the provincial component. B.C. is promising to be next but
it needs to go further.
Student loan programs need to be simpler,
less onerous and more consistent across the country, and non-repayable grants
programs expanded.
And, those taxes we call interest payments
eliminated.
I’m Mel Rothenburger,
The Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of
Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the Armchair Mayor opinion website,
and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be
reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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