Note 7: Financial Support

This post is the last in a week-long series.

The financial support system for students has demonstrably changed over recent years, but has it improved access to post-secondary education?

If the objective is to improve access by helping students struggling to meet the costs of a higher education, it is clear that government spending is not as effective as it could be. Recent increases in need-based aid are welcome. In the face of rising costs, however, this aid has not so much improved the financial situation of students as simply kept it from deteriorating further.

Increases in need-based aid have not been on the same scale as other funding. In fact, need-based aid comprises only 66% of the total student financial support. A decade ago, it was over 80%. As a result, need-based aid is barely keeping up with the escalating costs of attendance.


And this 66% represents only the value to students. Since this includes loans, which cost less than their value to issue, government spending is even lower. Although the value of need-based support is 66%, the actual cost to the government of need-based aid is only 40% of the total financial support.

While overall need-based aid may lack growth, targeted aid to under-represented groups has actually seen a decrease. Despite a growing population of Aboriginal youth in Western Canada, federal funding has dropped 8.5% from ten years ago.


Where, then, is all the funding going? Largely to tax credits and savings grants, with the intention of distributing funds to everyone, regardless of financial need and without necessarily improving access. This can have adverse effects.

Not only do tax measures not target those in financial need, they actually tend to disproportionately benefit affluent families and students. After all, many of these tax supports cannot be fully used unless the student (or a family member) owes income taxes.

Furthermore, tax measures do not cover costs when they are due, leaving many students with immediate unmet need. If they are fortunate enough to qualify for loans to cover these costs, student debt loads increase. As such, grants are needed both to provide greater access and to prevent debt escalation.

The research used for this and other Millennium studies was indeed comprehensive, but not without limitations. We still lack information, from institutional data to socio-economic profiles. Even with Millennium, we had nothing to match the research and surveying used in the United States, programs that help inform decision-making and define policy.

Despite a surge in the interest surrounding this research, there is no mandate to renew or continue research on access to post-secondary education. We cannot help but wonder where this will leave the issue of access in general.