Ontario's Cost-Benefit Analysis

Words: 1281
Pages: 6

“Ontario has become the least affordable province in which to pursue a university degree and it’s time the provincial government does something to reverse that trend” (Hennessey 2012). Lately, tuition fees in Ontario have increased harshly and tuition fees will not lower any time soon within the next four years. Students have a load on their backs. Not only do students have to figure out what they want to do with their life by the age of 18 but also have thousands of dollars to pay for their post-secondary schooling, including textbooks, electronics, and other school necessities. It is not at a low-cost, at all. It has come to a time now where parents start saving for their child’s post-secondary schooling when they are in grade one. Nowadays, …show more content…
Times have changed drastically and a high school diploma isn’t enough to get a secure job. Some students may argue that even a Bachelor’s degree isn’t enough to get hired. "Undergraduate education has become like high school - it's an entitlement” (Bradshaw, 2011). Undergraduate degrees are a minimum of four years and costs close to $40,000. To receive a well-paid job, a Master’s degree is now important. On the other hand, to receive a Master’s degree in a field, means paying more money for your education, which results to more debt. The most frightening part is, even finishing your Master’s degree you are not guaranteed the job you want. With the long hours put into studying and learning while working to pay for your tuition, students would hope getting a job after graduation would be easy, but it is not. “A survey conducted for Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities says almost 94 per cent of Ontario graduates from undergraduate programs landed jobs – full-time, part-time and business start-ups – jobs two years after commencement” (D’Cunha, 2015). After two years to land on a job is quite a long time. As post-secondary students are adults, paying for debt isn’t the only expense they need to pay for. Students also may have to pay for rent, phone bills, car payments, food, and clothing. “Nationwide, university students now graduate with an average student debt of some $25,000, with some students holding debt loads closer to $40,000” (Johnson, 2015). Sadly, $40,000 is close to a student’s yearly salary. So why can’t Canada help more with