PCs and Liberals make promises for post secondary - North Bay News ...

PCs and Liberals make promises for post secondary education

By Kate Adams
BayToday.ca
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Monday Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak announced that his party will make OSAP funding available to more middle-class Ontario families, meanwhile the Ontario Liberals would offer graduates who take their first job in the not-for-profit sector a one-year grace period for paying back student loans.

Full details in the news releases below.

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Toronto ? Today, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak announced that an Ontario PC government will make Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding available to more middle-class Ontario families.

Under Dalton McGuinty, many middle class families cannot get fair access to OSAP support. As a result, too many struggling parents cannot afford higher education for their kids. Instead, Dalton McGuinty's priority was to offer $40,000 taxpayer-funded scholarships that, incredibly, are only available to foreign students. Ontario families need not apply.

A Tim Hudak Ontario PC Government will cancel Dalton McGuinty?s $40,000 foreign scholarship giveaway, and will use the money to give more Ontario families badly needed support. We will adopt the same fair standard for OSAP eligibility that the federal government uses to determine how much parents have available to contribute, improving OSAP access for students from middle-class families.

QUOTES:

?Dalton McGuinty?s signature post-secondary education policy is to spend Ontario tax dollars on $40,000 a year scholarships that are only available to foreign students. Ontario families need not apply.?
? Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

?Dalton McGuinty believes middle class families are too rich to get fair access to OSAP loans. And for too many families, that puts college or university out of reach. To me it?s simple ? if your kid can get the grades, you should be able to give them the education they deserve.?
? Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

?This policy helps middle class families who work hard and play by the rules. Under the current Liberal government, too many middle class families are in an impossible situation. They can?t afford to save enough for the college fund, but they also can't get enough access to student loans because Dalton McGuinty says they are too rich.?
? Nipissing PC Candidate Vic Fedeli

QUICK FACTS:

? Under Dalton McGuinty, students from middle class Ontario families who apply for OSAP support are not treated fairly. By adopting the fairer parental contribution formula that the federal government already uses, a student from a middle class Ontario family earning $65,000 would receive $300 more in OSAP loans. A student from a typical family with one parent earning $39,000 and the other earning $46,000 should get about $2,500 in provincial OSAP assistance, but Dalton McGuinty gives that family no OSAP at all.

? On November 4th, 2010 Dalton McGuinty flew to Hong Kong to announce that he would be handing out $40,000 scholarships to entice foreign students to pursue advanced studies in Ontario. Ontario families who apply for this funding will have their applications rejected.

? An Ontario PC Government will raise the threshold for financial support to make OSAP loans accessible for middle-class families. Specifically, an Ontario PC Government will use the fairer federal parental contribution formula to calculate the level of support that Ontario provides.

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Meanwhile

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The Ontario Liberal government wants to help Ontario graduates who take their first job in the not-for-profit sector by providing a one-year grace period for paying back student loans, Premier Dalton McGuinty said today.

?Ontario students work hard to do well and in Ontario we also strive to do good. We believe it?s important for young people to have an opportunity to help our broader society. Extending the payback period for student loans makes it easier for graduates who take that first job in organizations where they can help,? Premier McGuinty said.
Under the proposed program, graduates who go to work for organizations that are non-profit and non-governmental, such as registered charities, will not be required to begin payments for one year on loans under the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP).

This is double the current grace period of six month, available to all OSAP recipients and with no interest applying in this period. The purpose of both the current and the new extended not-for-profit grace period is to give students a break after graduation when they are entering the job market. In Ontario, 85 per cent of college grads and 94 per cent of university grads are employed within six months after graduating.

Ontario Liberals will work with Ontarians to move forward together, helping our graduates connect with not-for-profit organizations who do good work.

The opposition has no program for education ? the NDP platform barely talks about post-secondary students and PCs have a $14 billion hole in their platform that could cause them to cut important services.

One million Ontarians are employed in the province?s not-for-profit sector, at some 46,000 organizations, with 800,000 of these Ontarians working full time. Ontario is turning the corner and only Ontario Liberals have the plan for Ontarians to move forward together.

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