Wednesday, March 10, 2010 

NEW WESTMINSTER—Hundreds more British Columbians signed the petition to reduce student debt this week as the Education Shouldn’t be a Debt Sentence tour reached Douglas College in Coquitlam and New Westminster. The tour is organized by the Canadian Federation of Students-BC, and has stopped at campuses across the province in February and March.

“Record high tuition fees have led to record high student debt,” said CFS-BC National Executive Representative Michael Olson. “BC families deserve a commitment from the government to make post-secondary education and training more affordable.”

Playing host to the tour, the Douglas Students’ Union gathered signatures on the petition and gave out much-needed free coffee to students as they studied for exams.

“For far too many Douglas College students, education is a debt sentence,” said DSU External Relations Coordinator Priscilla Bartleman. “Particularly in the wake of a budget that sees more student financial aid cuts and funding cuts, we need our MLAs to stand up for their constituents and make reducing student debt a priority.”

Tuition fees have more than doubled in BC since 2001. The elimination of the provincial grants program in 2004 accelerated BC families' student debt accumulation to the point where average debt upon the graduation of a four-year program exceeds $27,000. Meanwhile, BC student loans have the highest interest rates in the country. The CFS-BC’s campaign calls for the BC government to:

• reduce tuition fees;
• establish a grants program;
• eliminate interest on student loans; and
• restore funding to universities and colleges.

The Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia is BC’s provincial student organization, representing 150,000 university and college students at all levels of post-secondary education in BC. It is non-partisan and affiliated with Canada’s largest national student organization, the Canadian Federation of Students.

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