After years of government underfunding, access to high quality post-secondary education is at risk.
That is why it is Our Time to Act.
Federal transfers for post-secondary education are almost 40 per cent less per student now than they were twenty-five years ago. Thirty years ago, universities received more than 80 per cent of their operating revenue from governments. Today, government funding has shrunk to barely 50 per cent.
Tuition fees at Canadian universities have increased by three times the rate of inflation since 1990. In the same period, average student debt has grown 40 per cent while average real wages have stagnated.
More than half of undergraduate university courses in Ontario are now being taught by contract faculty, while half of all post-secondary workers in Ontario have some elements of precarity in their job.
It’s time for the federal government to be a real partner in post-secondary education again.
Find out what can be done and find out what you can do about it below!
For more information, contact postsecondary [at] cupe.ca
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Sign the petition: It’s time for the federal government to be a real partner in post-secondary education again
The numbers are startling. In the middle of the 1980s, governments - both provincial and federal - contributed 80 per cent of the total funding of colleges and universities. Today, they contribute barely 50 per cent.
Advocacy Toolkit
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The federal government must invest in post-secondary education
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News
Conversation guide on post-secondary education
Our structured conversation guide will help you to run your own hour-long workshop to bring greater awareness to the crisis in post-secondary education.
Convention
Post-Secondary Education Sector
At the CUPE post-secondary sector council meeting delegates heard from CUPE locals 1870, 2500, 1334 and 1975 about how solidarity and member engagement lead to gains for members.
Mythbuster on the elimination of tuition
Over 80 countries around the world provide some level of free post-secondary education. More than 20 provide free post-secondary education to all their citizens. Yet in Canada, tuition fees are increasing year after year. There’s no reason why Canada can’t eliminate tuition fees as well.
Post-secondary education: Building the system we want
Over the past twenty-five years, public funding for post-secondary education has dropped. This chronic government underfunding is creating a crisis. But there are other options. In this backgrounder, we look at how we can build a high-quality post-secondary education system that is accessible, affordable, and equitable.
Myth buster: The corporatization of post-secondary education
As public funding has fallen, universities and colleges have increasingly turned to private funding to fill in the gap. But many donations and corporate contracts come with strings attached and can end up compromising academic freedom, re-directing the priorities of post-secondary institutions away from the public interest.
The corporatization of post-secondary education
Over the past three decades, governments have cut their financial support to post-secondary education. In turn, universities have opened the door wide open to the money – and influence – of corporations and wealthy donors. CUPE has produced a backgrounder that looks at the increasingly corporatized post-secondary sector.
Myth Buster: Precarious Employment
Over the past thirty years, universities and colleges have increasingly turned to precarious forms of employment. Faculty and support staff are increasingly being hired on short-term, temporary, and casual contracts, rather than in permanent, secure positions. More and more positions are being contracted out to employers who pay low wages and don’t offer pensions and benefits. This rising precarity impacts the quality of education our students receive. And it is hard on workers, personally and professionally.
Myth Buster: Tuition and Student Debt
Over the past thirty years, tuition fees for university undergraduates in Canada have doubled, even after accounting for inflation. Other compulsory fees have also increased. College students are seeing a similar rise in tuition and fees. We need urgent action to address the high costs of post-secondary education. Don’t fall for these common excuses as to why the rising price tag of higher education doesn’t matter.
Fact sheet
The burden of tuition fees and student debt
For decades in Canada, governments were the most important funders of post-secondary education. But over the past 30 years, that has changed.
Myth Buster: Federal funding in post-secondary education
For decades in Canada, governments were the most important funders of post-secondary education, providing more than 80 per cent of the revenue of colleges and universities. But over the past two decades government funding has dropped to only 50 per cent, leaving students to pick up more of the tab. We urgently need a greater investment in post-secondary education from the federal government. Don’t fall for these common excuses as to why the federal government shouldn’t provide more money.
News
What’s happened to federal funding for post-secondary education?
In this backgrounder, we look at what has happened to federal funding for PSE and what the consequences of the drop of federal funding have been for students, workers, and institutions.