Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills
By Naomi Yamamoto
Minister of Advanced Education
Feb. 1, 2012
VICTORIA - Post-secondary education is one of the most important investments that students, their families and taxpayers can make. On this Student Day of Action, it's important to recognize how active taxpayers are in supporting B.C. students' success.
Today in B.C., post-secondary students pay about one-third of the actual cost of their education. B.C. has Canada's fourth-lowest tuition - and increases have been capped at two per cent per year.
Although we know that a high percentage of B.C.'s university and college students graduate without debt and an even higher percentage don't use government-sponsored loans to pay for their education, we also know that some of our students require extra support. That's why government offers loans to students who need it - including making them interest-free while students are in class.
Despite claims to the contrary, in ten years, we've actually boosted funding to operate our universities by 56 per cent and our colleges and institutes by 25 per cent.
We've made important investments in B.C. campuses, too. Whether it's the opening of Vancouver Island University's Cowichan campus, new trades training facilities in Quesnel and Prince George, completion of new facilities at Northern Lights College or the creation of a world-class sustainable building technologies facility at Okanagan College, we've made huge capital investments in B.C. communities to meet the needs of students - and their future employers - for years to come.
The Province believes that maintaining affordability of post-secondary education for students must be balanced with our responsibility to all B.C. taxpayers. Despite tough economic times, we continue to make record investments in education and have one of the country's most affordable public post-secondary systems.
In recognition of students' National Day of Action, I would like to thank B.C. taxpayers for their $1.9-billion-a-year contribution to ensuring that today's students are prepared for tomorrow's jobs.
