through university with a decent summer job. Student loans were available to make up for any shortfall, and they came with generous grants. Paying those student loans off when they finished school was easier then, simply because the amounts were not nearly as large as they are today. Too many of today's parents with young children have been lulled into a false sense of security by counting on their own generation's experience; false because significant changes have taken place over the last decade. Tuition fees have risen dramatically, out-pacing inflation, as government funding has drastically been cut back. The cap has been taken off many professional degree programs and the universities can now charge what the market will bear. The cost of a typical four-year university education in Ontario has more than doubled in the last ten years. In addition, new fees have been implemented through student's union, athletic and health service costs, plus the introduction of new registration, student services or undergraduates fees. As a result, student debt loads have been spiralling, doubling over the last decade, and enrolment rates of young people from lower socio-e

The Conservative government in Ontario has slashed post-secondary education funding and jacked up tuition fees, limiting access to colleges and universities at a time when many employers demand a post secondary degree. This can only worsen the already dismal employment picture for young people and displaced workers in need of new skills. While the provincial government pays lip service to the importance of education in enabling Ontario to compete in the global market, their actions appear to belie this objective. Between 1995 and 1999 the conservative government slashed college and university funding by $539 million, a 25% cut.# Between 1992 and 1999 real-per capita university funding in Ontario declined 30.8%, the biggest decline in Canada over that period.# Disparities in university funding levels between the provinces are increasing. Ontario, Canada's richest province, now ranks last among the provinces in university operating grants per capita, spending 38% less than the province of Newfoundland and 18% below the national average.# If Ontario were a U.S. state, it would rank 47th in funding for post-secondary education.# In 1980 each dollar a student paid in tuition was matched by $6.44 by the federal and provincial governments. By 1997 the government contribution had fallen to $2.97.# The provincial government must focus on realizing the objective of the 1996 Advisory Panel on Higher Education; that "Ontario grants per capita be raised to the national average...This would require an investment of $500 million by the province"# to provide improved accessibility and quality of education for Ontario's students. While universities and colleges alike have seen funding drop significantly at the hands of the provincial government, cuts to federal transfer payments have played a key role in diminishing the ability of provinces to fund post-secondary education as well. "The federal cash contribution to post-secondary education in the current year (2001) has fallen by 34% since 1992; from $2.9 billion to $1.9 billion...This is the lowest level of cash investment in post-secondary education by Ottawa in more than 30 years."# As a percentage of gross domestic product the federal cash transfers for post-secondary education have been reduced from 0.7% to less than 0.2% since 1978. (see figure:1)

Government cuts to core-operational funding have led university administrators to lessen their reliance on public funding and to raise tuition fees. Over the last ten years the average undergraduate arts tuition in Ontario rose 127.6%, going from $1,785 in 1991 to $4,062 in 2001. Ontario stands second highest amongst Canadian provinces in tuition fees for arts students for the 2001/2002 academic year.# Undergraduate tuition fees have climbed more than one-third since 1996/97 in Ontario; 38.4%.# Some program's tuition fees have risen as much as 60% over the last five years.# Graduate programs, and even certain undergraduate programs, have even been deregulated by the provincial government. By deregulating the programs, the Ontario government has taken the cap off tuition costs and universities are able to charge as much as the market will bear. The Batchelor of Commerce program at Queen's University is an example of suc

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ontario's Canada's, Loans Program, Western Ontario, , Post-Secondary Education, Education Ontario, Education Coalition, Ontario Canada, Ontario Canada's, Canada Ontario, post-secondary education, tuition fees, student loans, provincial government, economic social, participation rates, education ontario, debt loads, student debt, services undergraduates fees, athletic health, registration student services, charge market bear, tuition fees risen, student debt loads,
Approximate Word count = 2177
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)