Friday, February 11, 2011

Students Need Help, Not More Debt

Students Need Help, Not More Debt
The federal government says it will require a transfusion of hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain a student loan program that is hemorrhaging millions as a result of loan defaults. According to budget documents tabled Tuesday in the House of Commons, the Canada Student Loans Program needs $149.5 million just to cover writeoffs of more than 60,000 unexpected defaults. On top of that, another $311.2 million is needed to meet increasing demand for loans.But pouring in increasing amounts of money isn't the solution to a student loan system that is clearly in need of an overhaul, as advocates have been urging for some time.The Canada Student Loan Debt ticker on the Canadian Federation of Students website (www.cfs-fcee.ca) shows the tally at $13.7 billion and climbing steadily. The website points out that average student debt in Canada ranges from a low of $13,000 in Quebec to more than $28,000 in the Maritimes. The rate of delinquent borrowers is rising, too, hitting 13 per cent for 2010-11, up from about 10 per cent a year earlier. That's the result of a combination of tuition fees which have spiked in recent years and a tough economy which has pounded students along with everyone else.

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