It's been awhile...
The following may not make sense, may not be viable, and the author is prepared to take criticism. Try not to be too hard on me, this is my first attempt at trying to find a solution to any problem.
The following is a proposed policy alternative to the current PC Policy of dealing with student debt. I believe this plan is more in tune with our Aims & Principles as a party, and helps promote personal responsibility more than the previous plan. Comments are welcomed.
1. Enact a new Education Savings Plan (ESP) similar to CPP (without the employer contribution). This plan will allow employees to contribute a percentage of their wages to put forth to their children’s post-secondary education, deducted from each paycheque. This plan will be accessible to self-employed persons as well.
2. This ESP would be similar to the current RESP with high interest rates and additional funds contributed to the savings plan by the government. We will base the government funds contributed based on need. The less you are able to contribute (based on % of wage), the more the government will help subsidize.
3. Given that this plan promotes long-term savings and will not help those who have children approaching secondary school, we will allow for an ESP loan for children born prior to 2000, provided that the parent aggress to guarantee this loan and either the parent or student agree to contribute a set amount to the ESP for a set number of years.
4. We will also work with the provinces to allow those in more unfortunate situations to be provided with the opportunity to send their children through post-secondary education programs. In many provincial programs, such as Ontario Works and Ontario Disability, children who have reached the age of 18 are left behind, with no guarantors to even be given the opportunity to access a student loan. We cannot allow these young adults to lose their future because of the unfortunate position their parent/parents were in. We should work with provinces to enact a program as part of Provincial Social Assistance that would fully fund these student's education.
5. Should an ESP holder pursue work in the trades, these funds would be made available for vocational training, purchasing of tools, other certifications, etc.
The following may not make sense, may not be viable, and the author is prepared to take criticism. Try not to be too hard on me, this is my first attempt at trying to find a solution to any problem.
The following is a proposed policy alternative to the current PC Policy of dealing with student debt. I believe this plan is more in tune with our Aims & Principles as a party, and helps promote personal responsibility more than the previous plan. Comments are welcomed.
1. Enact a new Education Savings Plan (ESP) similar to CPP (without the employer contribution). This plan will allow employees to contribute a percentage of their wages to put forth to their children’s post-secondary education, deducted from each paycheque. This plan will be accessible to self-employed persons as well.
2. This ESP would be similar to the current RESP with high interest rates and additional funds contributed to the savings plan by the government. We will base the government funds contributed based on need. The less you are able to contribute (based on % of wage), the more the government will help subsidize.
3. Given that this plan promotes long-term savings and will not help those who have children approaching secondary school, we will allow for an ESP loan for children born prior to 2000, provided that the parent aggress to guarantee this loan and either the parent or student agree to contribute a set amount to the ESP for a set number of years.
4. We will also work with the provinces to allow those in more unfortunate situations to be provided with the opportunity to send their children through post-secondary education programs. In many provincial programs, such as Ontario Works and Ontario Disability, children who have reached the age of 18 are left behind, with no guarantors to even be given the opportunity to access a student loan. We cannot allow these young adults to lose their future because of the unfortunate position their parent/parents were in. We should work with provinces to enact a program as part of Provincial Social Assistance that would fully fund these student's education.
5. Should an ESP holder pursue work in the trades, these funds would be made available for vocational training, purchasing of tools, other certifications, etc.
posted by TB at 11:45 AM
4 Comments:
I do like the concept, however, I am hesitant to create yet another government body, who cannot even manage the Canada Student Loans program properly and efficiently, to manage this program.
We already have RESP's that people can take advantage of, that is privately managed, and accessible to all and is a choice for people to pursue.
Practically speaking, what percentage? Say it is 9.9% to a maximum of 1850, like the CPP. This would benefit a middle income family with 1 child. But say, they have 2 children -- the funds would be sorely lacking, as that would only amout to about $33,000 in principle and probably around $50,000 after the return from birth to age 18. As tuition continually increases, even $50,000 will not cover a degree program 18 years from now, still requiring loans, and does nothing to alleviate the student debt.
Additionally, it would give me pause to see yet another percentage taken off my pay cheque. (9.9% for CPP, $1.85 for every $100 for EI, then my 26% income tax, union dues, benefits)
Quite honestly, this program of forced savings would really only benefit those who have the incomes already to afford to pay tuition out of pocket. (9.9% of say $35,000 a year is not very much, and probably, not an option for low-income families as they need every penny they earn).
I still think the best solution is to address repayment of loans; increasing grants available, and even encouraging corporations to support scholarships for their employees children pursing an education that would benefit them.
What do others think?
I'm thinking maybe as well, the government could create a National Education Endowment Trust, whereby a portion of our budget "surpluses" could be invested to say a maximum of $5-billion, and then with an average 10% return on this, we could completely fund the educations of all low income students. Individuals and corporations could "donate" to this trust voluntarily to help reach $5-billion. Once the $5-billion is reached, scholarships could be awarded up to 100,000 low-income students with the residual, or be used to fund the defaults of student loans from low-income families.
The number is arbritrary--it's the concept. Recipients of these said scholarships, could pay back a portion through income tax (like our existing plan) to be reinvested, but recipients must agree to practice in Canada for say 10 years if they are fully funded.
Any surpluses in the fund would either be reinvested, or directed to capital upgrades, and/or maintenance at public Universities.
So what happens to University graduates that are unable to find employment in their field. I know many people who have accumulated close to $50,000 in debt to attend college/university and are now working for less that $12.00hr (a starting trades wage).
Would there be certain requirements for people looking for these scholarships for low-income families? Will we fund students looking to attend university progams that future job prospects look poor? What about people entering the trades? They need to pay for tools, schooling, travel, accomodation, etc. Will we only fund their schooling, when there is so much more that they will need to pay for? Given the current trade shortage, more support should be offered to encourage entry into the trades, not make university/college more appealing (that is funding more) than apprenticeship programs.
I am not trying to criticize the idea, I am just looking for more details and evidence that the program touched on in our current policy would prove to be a good investment in our productivity. From experience, I have seen so many people that have been unable to obtain employment in their field of study.
That is a great question. You know, I would email Tracy (tracy.parsons@pcparty.org) your question (unless you have already). I personally would support funding either directly the cost of texts and/or tools as part of "tuition" under our plan. As we develop policy these are things that we need to consider. Also, we really need to take a hard look at people who (like me), run out and get a general degree (BA) -- all well in good in my case, but ultimately, useless. Not to knock those who get this degree, but if I could do things differently, I would have specialized in something, or furthered my general arts degree into a specific field of study which I am now doing (10 years later).
Perhaps Universities need to limit enrolment in certain programs provincially...for example, thousands graudate every year with a general arts degree in a certain field, say psychology. Well, the market can only absorb so many of them. The others, end up working in other jobs completely unrelated. Yet, we have doctor shortages (albeit that was a government created crisis), and skilled trade shortages. So this means, going back further and looking how we stream our highschool students (total provincial authority).
Back to federally, I would completley include texts/tools (though we'd need to ensure the money was being used for such -- because like many other students not all my original OSAP went to um, school :) which left me short for text books, and resulted in a phone call home.
I do like the Conservative's bringing this to the radar -- giving tax credits for tools for trade -- though how effective that will be is another story, because one still has to buy the tools first.
However, please do email tracy, as I'm not completely versed in all the details of the plan.
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