It is all well and good to balance quality with cost but we aren’t taking about a consumer product here. Education should not be subject to the same criteria as those of someone buying a new macbook. If people want to go to school, it should happen, and unfortunately any government that raises tuition rather than lowering or abolishing it is not allowing this to happen.

Back end loan remission is fine by me, but what I have received so far doesn’t come close to what I had received in front end grants before they were cancelled.

It sounds to me like you haven’t had to rely on loans to finance your education. Gordon Campbell’s education policies discourage otherwise qualified low income students from pursuing post secondary education. These are voices that are not reflected in the MacLean’s surveys because they are not in University, they’re in the tar sands and on the construction sites.

I have many friends who have not bothered with University because they were unwilling to take on that much debt. Well meaning friends and family have questioned my decision to go to University, and rightly so, I’m in way over my head. The student loan system as it exists now creates and reinforces class division.

My ‘talking points’ were made based on the NSSE and CUSC surveys, and migration rates. What else can I do if I’m not allowed to cite the statistically significant trends demonstrated in independent research to support my point.

I, in all honesty, have not really understood why you don’t think that education has been well served – I’ve provided my argument.

On grants, the BC Liberals seem to collectively be concerned about up front grants, afraid that some people would ‘take the money and run’. I feel that this risk is perhaps overstated, but the Ministry has shown openness to the implementation of something like an institution tied credit. However, they prefer the back end loan remission program (which, I reiterate, exists – quoted from website: The federal and provincial government offer programs that can help you repay your Canada and B.C. student loans.).

A hard cap on tuition doesn’t have to be called a hard cap to be a hard cap. The government has, through regulation, made the soft cap into something that the Universities are so reticent to exceed that it is practically a hard cap.

The party website you linked to is part of the OpenPlatform consultation. The party hasn’t launched its platform yet – the election hasn’t even started. I support the party because I believe that past performance is an indicator of future performance. The NDP did a very bad job last time. The BC Liberals have done what I would characterize as a good job, and I believe that Campbell will get us to what I want quicker.

There are no viable options provided by the provincial government to reduce my government issued loans.

“I want my government to make sure that the education offered here is worth getting. The best evaluators of quality that we have indicate improvement. People think their education is getting better. They are beginning to feel more engaged. Young people are no longer leaving this province when they finish high school.”

That is word for word the same nonsense talking points Gordon Campbell says. Please see my response below.

@erin, make sure to, when you graduate, check out the BC Loan Remission Program. It’s a program designed to reduce the principle of a student loan post graduation. The address is here: http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/studentaidbc/repay/repaymentassistance/loanremission.htm

The thirty percent statistic comes from the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Canadian Universities Survey Consortium, which evaluate perceived quality of institutions. It’s the closest thing to a quantitative evaluation of quality that we have, and the AMS has been accepting it as such for years.

Saying that choosing not to pursue an education is the same as a poor quality one is disingenuous. Typically students will overestimate the cost of an education while underestimating the cost – reform of the CAPP course has been … OK, but does need to do more to educate prospective students about financing options – the very idea that student rewards go unclaimed is nauseating to me.

I want my government to make sure that the education offered here is worth getting. The best evaluators of quality that we have indicate improvement. People think their education is getting better. They are beginning to feel more engaged. Young people are no longer leaving this province when they finish high school.

So why on god’s green earth are you endorsing Gordon Campbell? He doesn’t support student grants. He told me that personally to my face. I’ve never heard him mention a hard cap on tuition, or expanding the loan remission program, or giving international students a break.

The election is only a month away, yet the educational platform advertised on his site is still just a bunch of empty fluff: http://www.bcliberals.com/?section_id=1576&section_copy_id=13386

How can I take you seriously when Campbell represents the polar opposite of the proposal you put forward? This cat is not “licking it up”.