BUDGET 2008: That’s it?
Budget 2008 offers no big moves in higher education
The 2008 federal budget had been widely expected to contain several major initiatives in higher education, but what the Conservative government delivered on Tuesday was instead a modest tinkering with the status quo, with some additional money for research, and housekeeping changes at two major student aid programs.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in the budget speech, “We must ensure that the next generation of Canadians has the opportunity to excel in this increasingly competitive world.”
Post-secondary initiatives announced in the budget will see the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation replaced with a similar program; administrative changes to student loans; new scholarships for graduate students; money to help secure university laboratories and new funding for medical, automotive, and environmental research.
COMPLETE BUDGET 2008 EDUCATION COVERAGE
COMMENT Is giving less money to more students really victory?
COMMENT Good works (Paul Wells)
COMMENT Student loan borrowers keep propping up system (Julian Benedict)
NEWS Millennium Scholarship Foundation to be replaced
NEWS No interest rate cut for student loans
NEWS New funds for university research
NEWS New grad scholarships aim to attract international talent
The Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation, which provides $350 million a year in needs and merit based scholarships, is to be replaced in 2009 by a new, $350 million Canada Student Grants Program. Students will see little difference between the two programs. Grants will be given out based on an income assessment. Low-income students will get $2,000 a year and students from middle-income families will receive $800 for each year of study, guaranteed during the entire course of their university or college degree. Under the current Millennium program, students must reapply each year for needs-based grants. The Millennium Foundation’s merit-based scholarships are also to be phased out.
Canada Student Grants funding is budgeted to increase by $80 million by 2012-13, to $430 million.
“This government is good at spreading chunks of money here and chunks of money there with little actual new money involved,” said Liberal post-secondary critic Mike Savage. “There is no talk of expanding the student loans system to assist more students, there is no increase the amount of aid that a student can receive.”
After a year-long review of Canada Student Loans, the government is also changing the way student loans are administered. The budget allocates $23 million over four years to create a new service delivery model. The federal government also says it will work with the provinces to create a one-stop, national website to administer student loans.
An additional $26 million over four years will be used to increase loans to part-time and married students. The budget also says that the government plans to spend $76 million over four years to assist graduates experiencing difficulty repaying their student loans. However, the government did not provide any details on exactly how this money will be used, saying it still has to negotiate agreements with the provinces.
Student groups had called for lower student loan interest rates. The 2008 budget left the federal student loan interest rate unchanged.
Universities will receive $116 million in new research funding next year. The new funding is directed primarily at research with environmental or commercial applications. $80 million will go to Canada’s three major research granting councils. Genome Canada, a not-for-profit corporation that funds genomics and proteomics research will receive an additional $140 million. And $250 million will be spent over the next five years on a new Automotive Innovation Fund, which will sponsor research in the automotive sector.
Five hundred top graduate students will receive support from a new program, the Canada Graduate Scholarships. To encourage top graduate students to stay in Canada, the government will spend $25 million over the next two years to create the scholarship which will be worth up to $50,000 over three years.
To encourage parents to save for a child’s education through a Registered Education Savings plans, the amount of time that a plan may stay open has been extended from 25 to 35 years, and the maximum contribution period has been extended by 10 years.
What a joke. The government had a real opportunity to look beyond simple housekeeping and really make things better.
The most commonly mentioned complaint from those who participated in the government’s consultation process was that the student loan interest rate is far too high — on this the government did not act.
It seems that the only way you can get a break on student loan interest in this country is by joining the Canadian Forces.
Julian, This maybe the exact intention of this government as the Conservatives are big warhog with their neo-con agenda
“Students will see little difference between the two programs.”
Joey, I’m not trying to hog your comments pages, really. Students will actually see a lot of difference in the two programs. Many people who did not get Millennium will get the new grants. There are many low-need (as student finance calculations go) but low-income students who will get the new grants. This will hopefully improve access.
On the other hand there are many students who got Millennium grants who will NOT get these new grants. High-need students who do not fall into whatever the income categories may be will lose their grants and thus will have higher student debt.
There are also those students who receive Millennium Access bursaries for rural students, Aboriginal students, etc. Unless those students fall into the new categories they will lose their grants as well.
That is not to mention the fact that EVERY Quebec student who had a Millennium Bursary will lose it. The CSLP does not operate in Quebec. Quebec students will now have to lobby their provincial government to distribute the federal alternative payment in the form of grants.
Furthermore, this also eliminates existing federal grants like the Canada Study Grants. This new grant program is a MAJOR shift in public policy and the media seem to be missing that.
John,
If you read the main article on the new program, you notice that there is complete coverage of the new program: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/02/26/budget-2008-millennium-foundation-to-be-replaced/
Included in the coverage is the fact that Quebec students will receive the funding in Quebec. Like the CMSF foundation, the money will flow to students, just in a way that fits the “needs” of Quebec. The federal government provides an “alternative payment” for the CLSP already and the present federal access grant money is funded to the province and then rebranded before getting to students.
Rural students will have their income definition defined by the area they are attending university and travel will be factored into the income assessment. Aboriginal students, especially those from rural reserves, are a high-needs group due to the low income (poverty) situation on rural reserves. They will be getting the new grants.
The government assured in the budget that a student receiving 2008/09 needs-based support from the foundation will continue to recieve support in 09/10 and thereafter.
This does not eliminate Canada Study Grants – they will continue to exist and eventually, the funding for them (which will continue on top of the $350 to rebrand the CMSF) will be intergrated into the new system – they have not been cancelled.
Ultimately, there will be winners and losers on the “margins” but the vast majority of students will notice little change from their current status. This article here is the overall summary – you are correct that it does not capture the fine details, it is not meant to, that is why there is a bigger story within our coverage.
In terms of the “margins,” we started working the winners and losers story last night.
Now, the devil may be in the details, but he hasn’t jumped up yet.
Joey, I do look forward to your follow-up article. I personally think that there will be a greater number of people who didn’t get Millennium getting the new grants and vice versa, but I will have to wait for your analysis or further info from the government to find out. It is a very, very common misconception that low-income students are generally high-need, when in fact the opposite is generally true (something CMSF discovered is that very few low-income students received Millennium Bursaries, hence the creation of millennium access grants). The government will clearly (hopefully?) be keeping this is mind when they design the program, though.