Many members of the Class of 87 will graduate with two things they'll never for- get — a diploma, and a stu- dent aid debt load in excess of $12,000.

Although Canada’s stu- dent aid’ programs guarantee access to post-secondary edu- cation for almost any academ- ically qualified student, these same programs are catching students in a vise of debt. Ten years ago, a debt load so high was almost unheard of. To- day, it’s becoming as common as coffee in a campus cafete- ria.

And for students who en- tered college or university this year, debt loads upon gradu- ation are bound to be even more unsettling, unless imme- diate and dramatic changes are made on both provincial and federal tevels of govern- ment. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem likely, although politicians and key bureau- crats are making important in- roads to bringing escalating student debts under control.

Governments

_ Students,

seem to have an unfortunate problem with timing. In the last five to ten years, student aid programs across the coun- try have deteriorated, student leaders charge, because of ne- glect among government pol- icy makers. In the same pe- riod of time, student debts have increased in spiral-like proportions.

"What's happening is stu- dents are being forced to mortgage their education,” says Tony Macerollo, chair of the Canadian Federation of "We can go to school, but we have no pay as- tronomically for it later.’ This is not fair.”

Although rarely mentioned by politicians in the past, debt loads have fi- nally, and almost suddenly, be- come a political issue. Op- position critics have taken the debt load issue as a key com- ponent of their agenda, while government officials have said that debt load is, if not @ prob- lem, an issue that must be ad- dressed.

According . to crsé re-

searcher Jean Wright, politi-

- cians can not ignore calls for

student aid reform any more, because of ;heightened pub- lic awareness about the issue. "It’s no longer that people don't know about the prob- lem,” says Wright. "A lot of parents, for example, are be- coming quite frightened by the prospects of such heavy debts for their children’s education.”

The change in average debt has been swift. The av- erage Canadian Student Load debt last year was about $5,000 — double the debt of five years before. That doesn’t include debts in- curred under provincial pro- grams, and because many provinces recently have either frozen or dropped grants in lieu of heavier loan compo- nents, students have been left with increasingly higher stu- dent debts.

The situation is most seri- ous in British Columbia, where the Social Credit government eliminated the grants portion of its: aid: package ‘in 1984. Not surprisingly, the average debt for graduating students has already reached astonish- ing proportions — the average student graduating from the University of British Columbia this year will have a debt load of about $15,000, a sharp in- crease from 1984's $3,000 av- étage.

The B.C. program, uni- versally regarded as the worst in Canada, came under heavy fire in a recent report prepared by the Pacific wing of CFS. The report, based upon hear- ings of a CFS task force last fall across the province, calls on Premier Bill Vander Zalm to re-instate grants for B.C. students immediately.

"That's definitely our most important recom- mendation,” says CFS-Pacific researcher Roseanne Moran, adding the situation is bound to worsen even more.

"Grants were only elimi- nated in 1984. A lot of stu- dents who started then and are still in school. We're not even seeing the full-blown ramifications of this,” Moran

said. To curtail skyrocket- -

ing debt loads, CFS has rec- ommended that the govern- ment adopt a ceiling on stu- dent debt, "realistically, be- tween $10,000 and $12,000,” Moran says.

ts aThe ne vicietiosx 2: beol B.C. government spent $12.5 million on student aid in 1986, while in 1982 it spent $33 mil- lion.

The CFS report, which has received wide publicity in the local media, has partially prompted the provincial gov- ernment to review its student aid problem. "The govern- ment is taking this very seri- ously. | don’t think they re- ally can’t at this point,” says Moran.

British

Columbia, of course, is not

the only province to be un- der fire for its student aid pro- gram. The Students’ Union of Nova Scotia recently struck a task force to tour campuses in the province, and prepare a report for this spring. SUNS

executive officer Sue Drapeau

said the provincial Conserva- tive government has benefit- ted by making well-publicized

changes to student aid, while not making actual improve- ments to the program.

"They increased the max- imum student bursary to $1,700, but very few students ever get that much. In fact, the average student bursary has dropped,”

Canagi

esaid Drapremeoncting Ehiegov-

ernment has mot: puiti anyraddi-

tional funding into student aid

in recent years.

"Students today are get- ting more loans, and fewer grants,” she said. "In essence, the feds are picking up the slack for student:-aid in Nova Scotia.”

Indeed, the size of the av- erage Canadian Student Loan has jumped. In 1982, the loan was $1,625. Two years later, the average jumped to $2,542. CFS’s Wright expects similar jumps to be recorded when new statistics are released.

Students in many provinces, including. Ontario, complain of: insufficient . aid for student. expenses,. such. as housing, food and transporta- tion. Matt Certosimo, chair of the Ontario federation of Students, says what the On- tario Student Assistance Pro- gram expects students to live on "is not consistent with the reality of being a student.”

Certosimo says OFS has spent more than a year ham- mering for changes to OSAP, among them a simplified ap- plication form, better appeal regulations, longer eligibility periods, and a new definition of independent status.

Student tsa Gilead: ers also say debt loads are be

i en