This time we can vote positive for post-secondary education

What we want

• A $4.2 billion increase to current funding that is tied to reductions in tuition fees.
• An end to funding private, for-profit institutions.
• No more public-private partnerships. Post-secondary infrastructure must be publicly financed and
  operated. Also, create a post-secondary education transfer that improves accountability of federal funding.
• A national system of needs-based grants.

How the Liberals have failed

• Tuition fees have skyrocketed with undergraduate students paying an average of $4,214 in tuition
  fees for 2005/06, almost triple the average of $1,464 in 1990/91 – the Liberal plan will not control
  rising tuition.
• Student debt after an undergraduate degree is about $28,000.
• Deferred maintenance costs are skyrocketing. In Ontario alone costs are estimated to be over $1.5
  billion for universities.
• Temporary and casual work is growing at universities.

Why the Conservatives are worse

• They endorse income contingent loans that are a regressive funding model and disadvantage women
  and low-income graduates.
• Conservative tax measures completely fail in addressing problems facing students and universities.

What the New Democrats say

• We need a national plan to reduce tuition by 10 per cent to make education more accessible.
• Protect education from privatization through a Canada Post-Secondary Education Act and increase
  federal transfers for education.
• Credit all interest on Canada Student Loans against graduates’ income taxes.
• Replace the privately administered Millennium Scholarship Fund with needs-based grants.
• Increase public funding to protect independent research from corporate pressure, particularly in
  medical and environmental fields.