Tuition fees are going up and student grants and loans down. It seems either there is a mass conspiracy trying to prevent youths from pursuing university studies or the value of a university diploma is increasing on the market place, in such a matter, that it's cost is increasing. What is going on ?
The governments, whether federal or provincial, are deploring the fact that they have to cut funding (i.e. reducing grants to universities or to there student loan programs) to post secondary education. We are told that governments have to reduce there deficits and therefore there expenditures. Post secondary education is consider an expense and not an investment. From this perspective, cutting funding to post secondary education is normal and logical. This is not proof of a mass conspiracy trying to prevent youths from pursuing university studies. However, it shows that the system is not encouraging youths towards post secondary education.
The value of a university diploma on the market place can be evaluated by the perspective of a student finding employment in his or her field of study once he or she has graduated. We all know that finding a job these days is hard, not only for youths but also for everyone. A number of graduating students find work, but usually those jobs are not related to there fields of study. In the 60's through the beginning of the 80's, a university diploma was an almost guaranty of meaningful work, which is not the case today. We can only conclude, that the value of a university diploma has not gone up but down over the years. However, for a number of youths, university studies remain a source of hope for meaningful work and a better life.
By Vincent Boudreau.
