This letter to the editor appeared in the Windsor Star May 8, 2015.
Re: Student debt cripples young.
By Christine Tausig Ford, vice-president, Universities Canada (formerly Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada).
Jack Lessenberry’s piece (guest column, April 29, 2015) is exclusively focused on student debt in the U.S. It is important for readers to know that the American situation does not reflect the Canadian reality around student debt and tuition.
In Canada, 50 per cent of bachelors students in the class of 2010 graduated totally debt-free. Within three years of graduating, more than one-third of the 2010 graduates who had borrowed had completely repaid their debt.
In real dollars, average student debt is now less than it was in 2000.
The data continues to show that a university education is a solid investment. Even during the recession, there was very strong job growth for university graduates.
A total of 865,000 net new jobs were created for university graduates, compared to 435,000 net new jobs for college and trades graduates, while a total of 510,000 jobs were lost for those with no post-secondary education.
Higher education in Canada continues to be a pathway to prosperity.