Students report on spending at Ontario’s universities, urge quality improvements
TORONTO, November 2 / – As the Ontario government gets set to review its regulations on university tuition fees, students are asking what their money is being used for. To help answer this question, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) today released Rising Costs: A Look at Spending at Ontario’s Universities, a research report outlining how university expenditures changed from 2005 to 2010.
“Per-student funding increased more than $3,000 over the last five years due mostly to increases in government contributions and student fees well above the rate of inflation. Students wanted to know how much went to improving the quality of their learning experience,” said Sean Madden, President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA).
The report finds that salaries, benefits, merit-based and graduate scholarships, demand for support services, indirect costs associated with research and new capital projects were the system’s primary cost drivers. More than 70 per cent of the increase in funding from 2004-05 went to salary, pension and benefit costs largely for existing full-time academic faculty and administrators, as well as increased use of part-time instructors.
“The affordability and accessibility of our post-secondary education system is at risk if students’ costs continue to rise at double the rate of inflation. Increased government investment in post-secondary education is a critical and necessary component of a sustainable way forward. However, the system is also going to have to demonstrate an ability to contain costs in a fair and progressive manner,” continued Madden.
“It is our hope that this report will spark some discussion on how government, institutions, faculty and students can work together to improve quality with current resources and ensure a sustainable, affordable, high-quality university system for years to come.”
To view the report, click the image below. Click here to read it online.
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OUSA will be hosting a roundtable discussion on the Rising Costs report and on innovative ways to improve quality of the undergraduate learning experience. The event will be held on Thursday, December 8th, 2011 from 9:30am – 11:30am at the Sutton Place Hotel, in the Amsterdam Suite. Please register each individual below, and contact info@ousa.ca if you have any questions or concerns.
To register for the public event, go to: bit.ly/risingcosts
Student Roundtable Series: Rising Costs
