Tuition Freeze to end

Read this and my heart sank.  I have a horrible feeling, and I’ve mentioned it a few times, that tuition rates in the province are on the verge or taking off.  As the province continues to introduce tiny stop-gaps here and there to take the pressure off the bottom rung of students, the Universities are no doubt taking it as a cue to begin sneaking in new fees and tuition hikes.  Only time will tell, but boy do I ever hope I’m wrong.

Training Colleges and Universities Minister Christ Bentley said that the province will not extend its two-year freeze on university and college tuition fees. The Minister made the announcement after meeting with students at the University of Toronto on Wednesday.
After already pledging $6.2 billion in new funding for higher learning over the next five years, with $1.5 billion going to student financial aid, the Minister said that the province “is actually faced with correcting 15 years of underfunding, decreased funding, or tuition increases.” He also added that this year marks “the first time that [he] could find in the records, to freezing tuition”; the province “has done it two years in a row, which is exactly what we said.”
New Democrat MPP Rosario Marchese plans to introduce a private member’s bill this fall that will propose the continuation of the tuition freeze until 2007. “Ontario should ban tuition fee hikes through to the 2007 election, then let the people have their say.”
The Canadian Federation of Students backed Marchese’s proposal. A letter to The Globe and Mail also commented on the decision and wrote that paying more for education does not guarantee “excellence” or a “better return on their investment.”