One of OUSA’s core principles is that financial assistance must be available to all who need it to ensure equitable access to post-secondary education. The distribution of aid to all students in need is one of the most important goals that should underlie the student financial assistance system. However, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) is currently falling short of meeting this goal, due to qualification rules that bar many of the students with the greatest need from accessing th …read more
Up, up and away
One thing that students, parents, educators, and administrators can all agree on is the fact that a post-secondary education is expensive. To pay for it, Ontario tuition has increased at rate far above inflation, resulting in the highest fees in Canada. Similarly, government grants to institutions increased above the rate of inflation during the years of the Reaching Higher Plan. Nevertheless, students are not reporting an increase in the quality of their education, and universit …read more
It’s been just over a month since Meaghan Coker (President), Sam Andrey (Director of Research & Policy Analysis) and I sat in the OUSA office and redeveloped the Student Success policy. We attempted to ensure we created a holistic paper that covered everything our students believe is student success. That day was a great for all of us as we left Toronto with a new and improved structure focusing on in-class learning, the broader learning environment and student supports, but it was up to m …read more
Following months of work by Sam Andrey, Doug Calderwood-Smith and I, the OUSA policy paper on ancillary fees is finally nearing completion and will be submitted on time. It was a timely coincidence that in June I was tasked with updating this paper, and in October a number of possible violations were brought to my attention at McMaster. Those issues have quickly been rectified by the administration, but it provided me with a great foundation for new principles, concerns and recommendations.
The …read more
