Student assistance needs big revamp, says Dexter
ossible fixes for a lacklustre system of student loans and bursaries will be part of a major report on the province’s university sector, Premier Darrell Dexter said Thursday.
Consultant Tim O’Neill is scheduled to release the report today.
Dexter said little about its specifics, other than mentioning student assistance.
"I think the student assistance piece in Nova Scotia is among the worst in the country, and I think that is abundantly obvious," Dexter said after a cabinet meeting.
"I think that will become even more clear with Mr. O’Neill’s report, and it’s going to be part of what we’re going to have to be dealing with in terms of access for students over the coming years."
A government source said the report includes options for increasing the capacity of financial assistance, with recommendations on the cap on loans, the non-repayable grant portion of loans and the repayment program.
Mark Coffin, executive director of the Alliance of Nova Scotia Student Associations, welcomed Dexter joining his group’s criticism of the existing assistance system.
"It’s something we’ve been saying for a long time," Coffin said. "We have one of the lowest proportions of grants-to-loans ratios in the country."
Peter Halpin, executive director of the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents, said the group, made of presidents from 11 universities, looks forward to seeing the report.
He said his group doesn’t have any indication that amalgamation would be considered, judging from Dexter’s and O’Neill’s comments earlier in the year.
"I don’t think that’s on the table at all," Halpin said.
"They both (referred) to the high quality and the strength of the university system in Nova Scotia and they made it very clear that the initiative is really designed to determine how the system can be further strengthened and sustained well into the future."
Dexter appointed O’Neill in January to do the review. It had been expected by the end of June, but the province then wanted O’Neill to talk to more people and provide a more financial analysis.
O’Neill, an economist and former Bank of Montreal executive vice-president, was part of Dexter’s four-member economic advisory panel last fall.
The November advisory panel report said the issue of recent university funding increases at a time when enrolments are declining requires further discussion.
"To date, there has not been any significant rationalization of university programs or facilities in the province," the report said.