The text below is the press release concerning the report of one part of the University of Waterloo Federation of Students Tuition Task Force. You can download the full report in pdf, the summary version also in pdf or just the numbers in Excel '97 format.
Lower Income Students Affected Most By Tuition Increases
Fewer provincial dollars result in anticipated tuition hikes
(Waterloo) A recent study by University of Waterloo Federation of Students shows that the proportion of students from lower income areas has fallen at Ontario universities. For every 100 students from lower income families in 1991, there were only 93 in 1998. At the University of Waterloo, this drop is even more pronounced, with the number falling to 85.
"We have noticed that our students are coming from wealthier backgrounds and we didn't think that it was just a coincidence that tuition fees were skyrocketing," states Christine Cheng, "so we conducted a statistical study examining how the socio-economic makeup of our student body has changed."
The study found that, on average, household incomes of Ontario university students increased $1418.26, taking into account inflation, between 1991 and 1998. This is the same time period where significant tuition fee increases occurred. At UW, the average household income increased by $2729.27, almost twice the Ontario average during the same time period, while tuition fees doubled.
"The cuts in government funding have had a significant impact on who comes to university," says Yaacov Iland, one of the authors of the study. "We're taking in more students in preparation for double cohort, but we're not getting any more funds from the provincial government. Some students will be protected by the recently announced 2% cap on tuition increases, but many others in 'deregulated' programs like engineering, computer science and optometry, still face looming tuition hikes. This will result in even fewer students from lower income families in these programs."
"The recent announcement on university funding appears to show an increase, but in reality, there will be fewer dollars per student at UW. In fact, many institutions won't be able to access any of that money," says Elise Hug, another author of the study. "What this means is that tuition fees in some programs will skyrocket to make up for the shortfall in government grants, and students from lower income families will be hit again."
Last year, tuition fees for deregulated programs such as engineering, computer science and optometry increased by 19% at the University of Waterloo.
For more information, please contact: Christine Cheng Veronica Chau President Vice President, Education Federation of Students Federation of Students University of Waterloo University of Waterloo (519) 888-4567 x.2478 (519) 888-4567 x.2340
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