Past government decisions at the federal and provincial levels are forcing students and their families to take on more education-related debt than any previous generation.Skyrocketing tuition fees and loan-based financial aid have pushed student debt to historic levels. Today, students graduate with over $25,000 of debt education-related debt and by January 2013 students will owe the federal government over $15 billion dollars.

Student debt levels have been linked to lower degree completion levels and reduced likelihood of continuing studies beyond a bachelor’s degree or college diploma. Heavy debt loads also have a negative impact on an already weak economy. Student loan obligations reduce a person’s ability to start a family, work in the public service, invest in assets and build career-related volunteer experience.

After graduation, student debt perverts career choice, especially for professionals, which in turn affects certain populations’ access to health care and legal aid. Studies of medical and law students have found that they expect to seek higher paying jobs in fields or regions that are not necessarily their first choice. Student debt appears to be driving committed young doctors away from family practice and young lawyers away from the public service and/or pro bono work.

It has been determined that students from racialised communities and lower income backgrounds, as well as single parents are more likely to hold negative feelings about taking on student debt. Two thirds of students who decide against enrolling in university say that student debt affected their decision. Canadian research suggests that debt levels have a direct impact on success in post-secondary education, with those with higher debt levels being far less likely to complete their degrees.

Students are asking for:

• the conversion of all loans made by the Canada Student Loans Program into non-repayable grants;
• the reallocation of federal funds currently spent on education-related tax credits and savings schemes to up-front grants distributed through the Canada Student Grants Program;
• the elimination of interest charges on student loans.