Nova Scotia's archaic student loan system finally undergoes a review

The Nova Scotia Student Assistance Program (NSSAP) recently paid a visit to students at Cape Breton University. The stop at CBU was one of several consultations across the province where student loan borrowers were given the chance to provide input on the system that has been described as archaic. Those in attendance voiced a wide range of concerns; varying from the time it takes to receive a loan to the loan's consideration of parental income.

The events have received terrific turnouts across the province; a sign that people are genuinely upset with the program, that they want to be heard, and that they believe change is necessary. Some students have become emotional when describing the effect their student debt will have on their future. One young woman was quoted saying, `You can`t afford to buy a house, you can afford to buy a car, you can`t afford to have children. `

We may view such a statement as extreme; however, it describes the situation of many university graduates across the province. Imagine start life with $20,000, $40,000, or even $50,000 in debt. When you take these figures and consider that 60% of student borrowers get their funding from the federal government who, according to a freedom of information request filed by the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness, charges interest rates between 8.4 % and 11% (they borrow money at a rate of 4.1%.), it is not improbable.

Students in Nova Scotia face higher tuition fees, on average, than anywhere else in Canada. Logically, this leads one to conclude that they will be facing some of the highest student debt loads in Canada. The situation this creates is one where some of the financially worst off university graduates in Canada leave to enter into a job market with some of the lowest wages in Canada. Is it any wonder outmigration is a problem?

Of all the issues raised across the province at these consultations, the two most commonly voiced concerns were those surrounding single mothers and parental contributions. Under the current NSSAP structure, single mothers are denied social assistance when they are approved for a student loan. Not only does this practice make it harder on women to get access to post-secondary education, it increases the burden they face when they graduate and have to pay back massive debt loads.

However, the most contentious issue, by far, was the issue of parental contribution. Part of your student loan application asks you to supply your parents` income. This consideration has probably cost more students the loans they needed than any other. It makes the faulty assumption that a parent will automatically pay for their adult child`s education. There are, of course, the apparent flaws in this line of reasoning used by the NSSAP: there is no legally binding reason for a parent to pay their child`s way, it ignores other social and economic factors that would have to be taken into consideration, and it bases a students` loan, their responsibility, on someone else`s earnings.

The current student loan system is supposed to help individuals gain access to the post-secondary education system. However, if you are an 18 year old on the outs with your parents or a single mother, the NSSAP does very little to help you. I am glad to see that the provincial government has finally lived up to one of the promises they made to students; we have our NSSAP review, but we are still waiting for our tuition cut. The series of public consultations means that the provincial government is willing to admit that there are some problems with the NSSAP. However, what we do not know is whether all of the input will fall on deaf ears; I hope it does not. I would like to believe that the input will make its way to someone with enough political will power to finally stand up for Nova Scotia`s students, but we will not find out if that will happen until 2008.

Originally published in the Cape Breton Post on Monday, December 10, 2007.