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Students across Ontario are participating in “Time Out” (#timeoutON), a campaign asking for a tuition freeze to be implemented in Ontario’s next tuition framework, which will be established in 2016-2017. The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is rallying students to ask the provincial government for a “funded freeze”. This means that yearly average tuition increases of 3% and 5% would no longer be allowed; the loss in tuition revenue would be fully subsidized by increased provincial investment in universities, ensuring that quality is not impacted. The funded freeze would reduce student debt and restore public investment in education.

Students are pleased with many of the recommendations within the university funding formula report Focus on Outcomes, Centre on Students: Perspectives on Evolving Ontario’s University Funding Model, published today. The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) was included in consultations and published Formulating Change in August, a submission to the government recommending key developments students want to see in a new funding formula.

Student leaders, representing over 140,000 undergraduate and professional students, are traveling to Queen’s Park for “LobbyCon” to meet with MPPs and key decision makers to ask for improvements in Ontario’s universities. Representatives from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) will sit in over fifty meetings and lobby for key changes and updates to the university funding formula, targeted investments in work-integrated learning opportunities, and an overhaul of educational tax credits.

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is proud to announce the release of Formulating Change: Recommendations for Ontario’s University Funding Formula Reform. In early 2015, the provincial government announced plans to conduct a review of the processes by which it allocates funds to universities, with the goal of developing a more “quality-driven, sustainable and transparent” model of distributing resources. OUSA’s submission contains student-centric and quality-based propositions on how Ontario can improve and modernize the funding framework.

Ontario students are pleased to see improvements to Student Financial Assistance needs assessments in the Ontario 2015 Provincial Budget. New improvements include the removal of in-study income exemptions, a simplified student contribution, the decoupling of grants and loans as well as a vehicle exemption. By addressing the assessment process, the budget makes the system more accessible, understandable and empowers students to support their education while in school. These changes will make it easier for students to continue to finance their education and can have the power to bring Ontario’s students above the low-income cutoff while providing them with the ability to save money for during and after school without penalty.

The Ontario Undergraduate Alliance (OUSA) is proud to announce the release of “Those Who Can, Teach; Evaluating Teaching and Learning Strategies in Ontario’s Universities”, a submission exploring pedagogy and instruction methods within Ontario’s universities. The submission calls on the provincial government and universities to better prioritize teaching quality, and provides nineteen targeted recommendations to improve the caliber of education in universities.

Student leaders representing over 140,000 undergraduate and professional students are traveling to Queen’s Park to meet with Premier Kathleen Wynne, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews, and the Opposition Leader Jim Wilson (as well as party critics, MPPs, and Ministers) Representatives from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) will sit in more than sixty meetings and ask for improved front-line student health support, streamlined student financial aid, and improved access to work-integrated learning opportunities.

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is supportive of today’s announcement by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities of $12 million for two additional years of funding for the Mental Health Innovation Fund. First created in 2012 by the provincial government, the Mental Health Innovation aims to support innovative approaches to on-campus mental health service delivery and encourages knowledge sharing and best practices between institutions, mental health care providers, and the government.

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is proud to announce the release of Paying Our Way: A Look at Student Financial Assistance Usage in Ontario, the fourth report of the 2014 What Students Want Report Series. In November 2013, OUSA launched its biennial Ontario Post-Secondary Student Survey and received approximately 9,000 responses to a series of 140 post-secondary related questions. Paying Our Way: A Look at Student Financial Assistance Usage in Ontario examines the ways in which undergraduates in Ontario are funding their university education.

The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) welcomes Reza Moridi as Ontario’s new Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. A former Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities from 2007-2009, Minister Moridi will also serve Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s new Cabinet.